


Generations of Card Captors

by TamChronin



Category: Cardcaptor Sakura
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-01-25
Updated: 2009-01-29
Packaged: 2019-06-10 18:13:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 66,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15297192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TamChronin/pseuds/TamChronin
Summary: A long time ago, Clow Reed set into motion a series of events that would echo through the ages.  His decision to create the Clow Cards wouldn't just affect himself and his guardians, but everyone he loved, through many reincarnations.





	1. Birth of a Card Master

He was young, in his mid twenties, and obviously in good physical condition. His stance was strong and noble, his long hair whipped around him as a gust of wind touched him, then died. A sudden eerie calm descended upon the man and let his hair and robes fall around him, touched only by gravity. He pulled out a long staff, topped with his symbol of the sun, and smiled gently. It was time.

His mother and father had taught him so much; it was part of who he was to do magic, to create magic, and to bridge the two "worlds" of magic. He never thought about why he would do it. It was his destiny. Clow Reed stared out at the moon rising across the ocean and willed the silver stream of light that formed upon the water to take a physical shape before him. He didn't even think that failure was possible; it was something he both wanted to do and had to do.

The light gathered into a center and from the sphere it formed came wings. Clow etched the symbol of his will upon the ethereal plane beneath the liquid silver sphere, then poured energy into the intricate lines as a human form began to shape itself behind the enormous feathery wings. He let the energy take whatever form it would, but used his symbol of power to make that form permanent as it formed.

Clow gasped as the wings pulled back to reveal a tall, thin man with silvery-white hair down past his toes and pale lavender cat's eyes. He was dressed in white and spun sliver. The eyes were staring, dazed, with no hint of personality yet. Clow allowed himself a small smile as he looked upon this creation, then he looked to the west across the land, ignoring the pale figure.

The sun had also been falling, dripping its light across the field behind him. Where the light of the sun hit the grass a golden shimmer formed. Clow again gathered his will and called the sun's golden rays upon the earth to take form before him. The golden ball that began to form also grew feathery white wings, but it was a lion that took shape behind their screen. It was harder for Clow Reed to concentrate this time, but he still managed the feat relatively easily. Failure did not cross his mind.

Now other forms of energy swirled around him, some curious, some furious. The waves on the beach below him began crashing harder and harder, the wind rose again and tossed his hair and robes around, and a tremor was felt deep beneath him. He pulled out the four cards he had worked on over the past year, drawing every image just so and using the finest and most expensive of inks. These four cards would give him final mastery of the power coursing through his veins, or they would kill him. He plucked the thought of death out of the tree of his mind like the chattering monkey it was. He had no room for failure or the thought of it.

One by one the four basic elements of western magic were drawn into the cards. The Windy card was first, gently blowing its energy into the card and giving the blessing of the spirits of the air. The silvery man-form began to breathe and the card glowed. Then the heat of the sun intensified and the golden rays touched the Fiery card. The heat intensified for a moment, then drew into the card. The lion also began to breathe, but neither creature did anything else. The other two cards would take more effort on Clow's part to capture their essence. He drew out a vial of water first and poured it upon the Watery card. Every drop was converted to energy as it touched the surface. The energy was drawn into the card and it too glowed. The silvery man blinked, looking around at the world he found himself in. Clow could not turn to look just yet though, so missed the man's first moments. He pulled a golden flower from the ground, making sure that the roots came up with plenty of soil also. He placed the flower and dirt upon the last card and with a last push of his internal energy the card glowed and accepted this last gift. The lion shook himself and looked around, aware for the first time.

Clow fought to stay upright, but the only outward sign of his struggle was a slight tremor in his hand as he took his huge staff and began the incantation to seal the energy into the cards. "Cards of nature, cards of power, I command that your energy be sealed into these cards!" The world went dark around him as he spoke, but he refused to allow himself to be distracted. He was not safe yet. "Your power is now confined, Clow Cards!" He touched each card with his staff as quickly as he could, imbuing the cards with the last of his energy. The staff shrank in his hand and as he moved to put it away his knees buckled and he fell to the ground.

He was caught on the way down. Strong hands slid against his sides as his knees hit the ground, and then warm and golden fur was pressed against his front. The hands lifted him and draped him across the lion's back. Clow wanted to protest, wanted to stand up and tell them that he would be fine in a moment, but darkness finally pushed in on his vision and hid the world from him. His body went limp across the lion's back.

\-----

Clow was only out for a moment, but he knew he would be weak for a long time. In fact, that is why he created the guardians. He didn't realize that he would be drained to the point of passing out, but he knew that he would be unable to defend himself against a gnat for about an hour, more or less.

Breathing heavily, he struggled to stand. The ground swayed slightly beneath him, but gentle hands steadied him and helped him stay upright. "Thank you," he said softly, turning to see who was there. It was the angel-man he had created to guard him and the magic cards.

The cards! They were still on the ground where he had left them!

"Please, hand me the cards." Clow sat down on the ground, afraid to remain standing too long without support. The cards flew on their own to his hand, surprising them all. "Ah, so that is how they will be. That is a good thing." He pulled out a quill and uncorked a bottle of ink, then wrote his name in small letters on the bottom of the face of each card. "This is very important. I must put my name on the cards in order to be their master."

The lion looked at him strangely. "Creating them didn't make you their master?"

Clow smiled. "Yes and no. The final step for me is to put my name on them. Once my name is on the cards no one else can put their name on them and take their power away from me. They are mine until the day I die." This seemed to the three of them like a sufficient amount of time to seem like eternity, so it did not cause any alarm. "The weakening of my powers seems to have effected my manners. I am sorry. Introductions are overdue." He considered standing, but realized that in his condition it would be a bit premature. "I am Clow Reed, creator of the Clow Cards. I am working to bridge the magic of the Asian world with that of the Western world. It would seem that I am succeeding." He smiled at each of his creations, seeing the "beast" that came from the setting energy of the west and the "angel" that came from the rising energy of the east.

The lion, showing himself to be the more gregarious of the two, spoke up first. "I am Cerberus, Master." Cerberus bowed low with his forelegs, dipping his head, then stood proudly and moved to Clow Reed's side. "I will stand by you and serve and protect you in whatever way I can."

There was a slight pause in the conversation as everyone wondered who would speak next. Clow had just made up his mind to accept Cerberus's service and then turn to the other, when the angel-man spoke. "I am Yue, Master. I will also stand by you and serve and protect you in whatever way I can." Yue's bow was more formal, but when he stood he was every bit as proud when he moved to Clow's side.

"I humbly accept you both, and I hope our relationship will be long and fruitful." Clow stood on his wobbly legs and executed a perfect bow, but when he stood back up from the bow the world began to spin a bit too fast for his taste. He held out his arms for balance, but began to topple anyway. Yue was as swift as lightening, ready to help his Master in any way. Clow leaned against his new guardian, surprised at how weak he still was. With Yue on one side and Cerberus on the other he steadied himself down onto the ground. He noticed that Yue and Cerberus exchanged a worried glance, so decided to explain.

"Come, you two should sit with me for a time while I gather more strength. I will be fine in a few more moments." He just smiled up at them until first Cerberus and then Yue sat before him, looking expectantly for him to go on. He noticed that they no longer had their snowy white wings, but knew also without knowing how he knew that they would both have wings whenever they willed it. "I have just created and captured more magical energy than I think has ever been done in such a short time. The elements are strong forces to attempt to harness even one at a time, but I have captured their essences all at one time as well as created or called upon the only two guardians that could protect me afterward."

Yue frowned. "Why did you do it all at once? You would not be in this shape if you had done one thing at a time, Master. Why take such a risk?"

"You have no idea what risk I took." Clow frowned and shook his head. "If I hadn't succeeded I would have died. I did not do this on a foolish whim. I did it because my life was at risk either way the moment I tried any magic at all." He closed his eyes and concentrated slightly, "looking" around with his inner eye. When his hunch was confirmed he nodded and opened his eyes. "Isn't that right, cousin?" He called out to the unseen figure standing behind him, taunting Li Chang to show himself.


	2. Deep Sorrows, No Regrets

Li Chang glowered at his cousin, but Clow Reed only smiled. Clow was not afraid. He had survived his test, hadn't he? Clow knew that in a matter of hours he would be stronger than ever, and in the mean time he had two of the most loyal and protective guardians he could ask for.  
  
"I don't know what you think you were doing, cousin, but now you must answer for it. You have not had training to do the magic you were attempting. If you do any magic again you will face me."  
  
"There is no need for me to face you at a later time, cousin. I will continue to do magic, I will do what I want and I will do it when I want. You should not trouble yourself to stir from a warm bed on my account."  
  
Chang pursed his lips and his eyebrows drew inevitably closer. "You would do well to take matters of magic more seriously."  
  
"Chang, I take magic most seriously. It is you that I do not take seriously. How could I take you seriously when I have already accomplished more than you have ever dreamed of attempting? And yet you stand there and lecture me, telling me that because you refused to train me for my English heritage that I can not do what I have already done. Chang, you can no longer stop me. You have already lost." Clow's smile slowly transformed from an amused grin to an almost wistful and sad half smile, but his face remained kind for his kinsman.  
  
Chang moved like lightning, the ceremonial green garb of the head of the Li clan blurred to almost match the grass behind him. His huge sword was dancing in the air, swinging swiftly toward Clow's neck. Yue and Cerberus interposed themselves between the two magicians just as Clow stood up and pulled a small key from a hidden pocket in his robes. Chang had to dodge flame and ice from Cerberus and Yue, and that gave Clow enough time to transform the small key into a staff to block the attack.  
  
Chang changed his tactics as he realized that a straight physical attack wouldn't work. He brought out a card inscribed with magical symbols and flipped it into the air. With his sword he prepared to release the energy at his opponents, but Clow was a step ahead of him. He pulled out the Watery card and tapped it with his staff, commanding it to prevent Chang's attack. A vicious looking girl made of water appeared and rushed at Chang before he could use his own attack. Chang was so startled that he backed up, realizing that he was indeed outclassed by the boy he had thought of as an outcast amateur. He then looked back and forth at Yue and Cerberus, realizing that these were powerful entities themselves, not just mindless constructs.  
  
Chang backed away with his eyes wide and mouth round in shock. "H-how did you manage to--?"  
  
Clow's usual smile returned. "I am much more powerful than my parents allowed you to suspect. They taught me everything they could, but even years ago I begged to know more and more. I began to delve deep into my past lives to remember magic that has been lost for ages, and now I have learned enough to stand alone against any adversity. You have no power over me, Li Chang, and I will use this power as I see fit, not as I am ordered by you."  
  
"You will abuse your power, Clow Reed, just because you could not be the head of the clan? You will endanger countless lives in search of greater and greater power?"  
  
"No, I will enrich countless lives. Starting with my own. It will do no good to tell you this though. You must see it with your eyes. I am sorry that you have no faith in my intentions--"  
  
"The westerners have a saying about the best of intentions paving the way to the worst of places. I will keep an eye on you; I trust no one with as much power as you are professing to have." Chang drew himself taller, drawing upon the persona of the leader even more heavily as he prepared to deliver his next sentence. "However, even though I am watching, I will not have my family endangered. Therefore I order you to stay away from Hong Kong. If you return there I will destroy you, or I will destroy myself in the attempt."  
  
Clow felt his heart break with this pronouncement. He was losing too much too fast, and no matter what power he gained it was not worth the loss of any person's life. Even so, Clow did not change the expression on his face or show any shift in his emotions. He bowed, saying, "I have no desire to see your destruction, and the alternative is even less desirable to me." The smile became slightly less pained, a little more humorous for an instant, then he went on. "I will not return to Hong Kong until I am welcomed there."  
  
"We shall see." Chang nodded, examining Clow Reed's eyes for a moment, then turned away as if satisfied with what he saw. As he walked away he was swallowed by the gathering darkness of twilight.  
  
Yue frowned as he watched the enemy retreat. "Master, if you had said the word we would have easily crushed that man. Why do you let him tell you that to do?"  
  
"It would be disrespectful to the memory of my parents to murder one of my kin. They taught me to be a willow instead of an oak. When the oak is pushed by the wind it stands still and tall, unbending until it breaks. When the willow is pushed by the same wind it flows with the wind and lasts much longer. I may seem to be bending to Li Chang's will, but that is because it will not benefit anyone to fight that battle at this time."  
  
Cerberus nodded, seeming to smile a bit. "That is very wise beyond your years, Master. Wiser still though would be to go home and seek shelter from the coming night. The air is already getting cold."  
  
Yue rolled his eyes.  
  
Clow smiled.  
  
"Home is not far, and there you will find all the comforts you need, I'm sure." The three of them walked in silence to the house Clow Reed had called his own home for the past year. There would be no one there to ask what had happened or who the new beings were...but that meant that there would be no one to welcome them with a warm fire or hot food. Clow began thinking that he might not be so lonely with Cerberus and Yue around. Then he saw the note stuck to his door and realized that the pits of loneliness had only just been dug.  
  
_Dearest Nephew,  
  
It should come as no surprise to you that your actions have not gone unnoticed here in London. The elders in the Circle have informed me that you are a rogue and are no longer welcome to their wisdom and council. Only the fact that you did not make the oaths prevents them from killing you outright for using high magic without consultation. (Or, in truth they won't utter, permission.) I don't think I need to say that you are no longer welcome where the Circle holds sway. I recommend that you stay in Japan for a very long time...if I know anything about the  **other**  half of  **your**  family you won't be welcome in Hong Kong by the Li clan either. I don't know if your parents would be proud or furious, since they were both such rebels, but I am hoping that they are not resting soundly in their graves. If you were my child I would return and let you know a thing or two. I would also tell you to be careful. I hope you know what you're doing.  
  
Aunt Esther  
_  
Clow shook his head, then used the letter as kindling. It had said everything he had expected.  
  
"Master, you are distressed. How can we help?" Cerberus walked over, trying to comfort Clow with his proximity. Yue stood off to the side, but was clearly waiting for Clow to answer Cerberus.  
  
Clow's smile did not falter. "I will cook. Cooking always makes me feel at peace. It is a different kind of magic; one that no one tries to claim as their own. I will make a large cake with beautiful frosting and cherries on top of each slice."  
  
"Master," Cerberus began, "what is a cake?"  
  
"It is something I think that you will love."  
  
Cerberus and Clow walked off to the kitchen, talking away about different foods. Yue smiled fondly at both of them, but couldn't stop worrying about the fact that there were people who were his creator's enemies  _because_  Yue had been created. He didn't want to take his mind off of that, so he watched vigilantly while Clow introduced Cerberus to the joys of sugar.  
  
It was a start.


	3. Capturing the Essence

Clow Reed bowed over his desk, etching the last minute details into the face of a card. He closed his eyes one last time, matching his vision of how the card needed to look to how the card had actually come out. It had to be perfect or it would never work.  
  
One last line, one last touch, then he put the brush down and waved the card in the air to dry it. After a minute he held it up to his forehead and concentrated…and found the flaw that would prevent it from ever becoming a magic card. In an uncharacteristic explosion of temper he ripped the card in quarters and began throwing vials of ink across the room. "One line off by a quarter of an inch! Useless! All that work FOR NOTHING!"  
  
He didn’t hear the soft knock on the door, so he was startled when Yue calmly stepped in and took the vial of dragon’s blood ink from his raised hand. "Master Clow, you have a guest."  
  
Clow blushed, ashamed at being caught in such a childish display of anger. He smiled ruefully and shook his head. "I need a few minutes to clean up…to calm down…." He looked around distractedly, still not registering that this was the only guest he could remember having since he had agreed to exile a decade ago. Yue had left the room before Clow thought to look up and ask, "Who?"

\-----

  
"He will be out in a minute." Yue kept his face straight with an effort, for some reason amused at the thought of his Master throwing a temper tantrum.  
  
The young woman smiled up at him with uncanny understanding glowing from her eyes. "How long has he been at that one card?"  
  
Yue’s brow furrowed, but he answered with a brief sardonic grin. "Three months, two weeks, four days, and six hours," he listed.  
  
Cerberus padded up behind him and added, "And ten minutes."  
  
Yue bowed slightly, accepting the correction with good grace.  
  
The lady grinned, well aware of the perfectionism required at this level of magic. "My timing couldn’t have been better then," she replied enigmatically.  
  
Yue and Cerberus exchanged a glance, and then Cerberus shrugged. "She’s probably right, for all I know. He could certainly use a break after all this time."  
  
Yue felt his master draw nearer and decided not to say anything. Footfalls sounded behind him, then Clow Reed was there, staring in shock at his guest. It was the first time Yue had seen Clow look genuinely surprised. Yue struggled with his curiosity, but knew that events would unfold faster if he sat back and  _let_  them unfold. He crossed his arms and stood back, watching.  
  
"Aunt Esther! I thought I would never see you again." That was all Clow Reed managed to get out before he had the wind knocked out of him by a high speed hug.  
  
Yue frowned, confused, but was spared voicing the question on his lips when Cerberus burst out with the same question. "She's your aunt? She looks younger than you are."  
  
"Oh! That's because I am younger, Cerberus." She gave the sun guardian her sunniest smile and scratched him behind the ear with a familiarity that stunned them both. She sighed and looked over at Clow with a slightly puzzled look. "For some reason I have a strange desire to call him Kero-chan, but such a dignified beast hardly fits with that name." She shrugged it off though and smiled again, brightening the whole room.  
  
Clow guffawed, and even Yue had to hide a sly smile at the reaction Cerberus had to the girl. "I am the Guardian Beast of the Seal of the Clow Cards, how could you call me something like the chirping of frogs?!?!" Esther looked properly abashed, so Cerberus left her off the hook. "Though from someone as sweet as you I suppose I could make an exception…this once."  
  
"Oh, don't worry Sun Guardian, I wouldn't dream of making it a habit." Esther smiled again and all was forgiven between them.  
  
Clow walked over to his aunt again and smiled at her. "Why are you here? I thought I was a bad element that shouldn't be tolerated by respectable sorcerers and sorceresses."  
  
She frowned at him. "That was the decision of the Elders of the Circle, not me. I may be their High Priestess, but that doesn't make me a pawn they can move at will." She placed a hand on his shoulder and her bright green eyes grew wide and solemn. "You will be accepted again some day, I can feel it. Those hidebound idiots will realize that you aren't the subversive rebel they assume."  
  
He smiled gently at her unfailing faith, but it was tempered by-- "It has been ten years, and I have done nothing but help others and prove to them that I have no intention of abusing my power. Still they fear me and rattle their spears. I have grown to love it here, I am at home here, and I do not hope to return to places that were home long ago. Japan has been good to me, and I have gotten a lot accomplished here."  
  
Esther shook her head. "This is not why I came; opening old wounds will accomplish nothing. I am finally with child! I couldn't go through pregnancy without telling you and seeing your reaction."  
  
"Wonderful! I know how much this means to you and--" He broke off as Yue walked closer.  
  
Yue's eyes were wide with wonder as he walked toward Clow and Esther. "A baby…a living baby inside of you…."  
  
"Yes, that's right." She smiled up at Yue, and then flattened her dress over the slightly bulging abdomen. "It's too early to really feel the baby kick, but his life force is strong and I am confident he will have strong magic also."  
  
Yue hesitated, but when Esther nodded up at him he reached a hand to touch where the baby would be growing. The swirling energy the baby projected was pure and content; the mother's energy was apprehensive but loving; the combination left Yue reeling from the intensity of the magic. Then Clow placed his hand next to Yue's and it intensified exponentially. Yue wanted to pull his hand back quickly, as if he had been burned, but he forced himself to withdraw calmly and without drawing attention to himself. He was overwhelmed and decided that it was best to assimilate the information somewhere unobtrusive.  
  
No one noticed as Yue walked outside to the garden he had lovingly tended while Clow spent all his time and effort working on the cards. The green growing plants were a silent harmony with the earth and sky; they were a manifestation of all the basic magical elements. Earth from the soil they grew from, Water that they drank so thirstily from, Air that they breathed in, and Fire from the sky and sun that they turned into food. The garden was the place that Cerberus and Yue put aside all their differences and just appreciated the beauty for what it was.  
  
Yue thought hard about creation and birth and the differences. He had been brought into the world as an immortal being…one who would never age and die, but one who would never learn what it is to be born and grow up. He had felt somehow diminished and incomplete when he had touched the energy of the unborn child. It wasn't a feeling he could easily shake off either.  
  
And yet…when Clow's hand had brushed against his own he had felt enhanced and complete in a way that denied what he had felt the moment before. He felt immortal, and he felt like he belonged in the world. It was a feeling that had been slipping from him day by day as Clow's attention was taken by his obsession with the cards. He had stopped belonging and had started merely existing.  
  
Voices followed Yue out into the garden, halting his thoughts. "Why didn't I think of that? A Create card to create the other cards I need. Then all I would have to do is capture the essence of the magic I need and move on to the next card. It's a brilliant idea Esther. It is an idea that shines as brightly as you do, little star!"  
  
The trill of her laugh moved up and down Yue's spine, causing shivers he had never felt before. "You are disrespecting me, nephew! I am Aunt Esther, not your little star!" Still, she didn't seem to mind that much because her laughter continued. Soon the two of them were in sight, laughing and walking arm in arm. Cerberus followed behind, feeding off of the playful mood the humans exhibited. Yue felt a stab of loneliness, but buried it deep and chose instead to delight in the smile that now graced Clow's face. It didn't really matter who had put it there, as long as there was a genuine smile there again.  
  
"Ah, so this is where you ran off to, Yue! Come, join us. Aunt Esther has only a few hours more and I was thinking that a feast is in order. A huge feast! After all, she must eat for two now."  
  
"Off with you, nephew, and don't tease. Or better yet, I will provide the feast. I can do in one hour what would take you five when it comes to the kitchen. Now go, have fun with your guardians…they both looked lonely and neglected when I arrived." Esther shot Yue a glance that was all too knowing before she ran back toward the kitchen.  
  
Twilight descended upon the garden and Yue and Clow gathered cherry blossoms to make a centerpiece for the table. They laughed together and decorated Cerberus with the flowers also. It was the first pure fun they had shared in a long time, and it was a memory that would torture Yue for eternity.


	4. Every Silver Lining Has A...

It started as a dream. There was great pain, but there was great joy. The pain was almost beautiful, but fear tainted it more and more as the dream went on. There was weariness, exhaustion, and waves of nauseating pain. Slowly the pain escalated, and then there was a creeping sense of peace and rest from the world. It became cold and dark, then brilliantly white, and Clow Reed sat up gasping, shoving the covers of his bed aside and racing outside. In the heavens above a star flashed brilliantly and then faded from view.  
  
"No!" It was little more than a gasp, but it held all the emotion of a primal scream and then some. "Esther...no...don't go. Don't be--" Clow choked up and couldn't force another sound through his constricting throat for what felt like an eternity of grief. He fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands, just breathing and trying with all his might to block everything else out.  
  
He looked up only when he felt a hand tentatively touch his shoulder. Yue's concerned gaze shown down upon him with the cool calm of the moon. "Master, what is wrong?"  
  
"Where is Cerberus?"  
  
"He's in the kitchen...finishing off the chocolate cake." Yue smiled slightly and Clow drew upon that twist of the lips to bring him out of the dark pit of despair. He stood up easily and walked quickly back to the bedroom. He had half packed his trunk and heard his two guardians enter the room behind him before noticing his state of undress. He slowly turned, swept past his creations to the hook behind the bedroom door, and tied on his bathrobe while fighting to control the blush warming his cheeks. Chiding himself for his inappropriate emotions at such a time he turned back and started packing again.  
  
Clow was nearly finished before he felt Cerberus nuzzle his side. "Master Clow, what is wrong?"  
  
"We are going to London. As soon as I finish packing." His voice was too steady, giving away his intense struggle to maintain control.  
  
The guardians exchanged a glance; they decided in less than a moment that Cerberus would continue to speak for them while Yue brought out the suit and traveling robes Clow had obviously forgotten. It was obvious that in Clow's state of mind he would be content to leave in the bathrobe alone and only regret it later when his thoughts finally caught up.  
  
"I thought you," here Cerberus chose his words carefully, "had decided to avoid a confrontation there."  
  
Clow flinched, but finished packing with no comment. He shrank the trunk with The Little card and had pulled out The Fly before noticing the clothes Yue had brought out for him. He nodded.  
  
"We leave in five minutes."

  
\-----

  
It took them only three days to arrive, but that was over two days too late to even attempt using The Time card to save Esther's life. Clow arrived too exhausted to attempt anything, and by the time he woke up her body had been cremated.  
  
He demanded to speak with the Elders of the Circle and was granted an audience within an hour. The faces that met him were strangers...all too young to have been more than initiates when he had been exiled. As he took their measure he realized that even working together they could not touch him. They weren't a threat to him...or Yue...or Cerberus. He had been running away from his own fears and memories--nothing more.  
  
"I could have saved her life." He looked at their drawn faces and saw that they recognized that as truth. "Years ago the Elders, your predecessors, told me to never return. If I had been here for the birth of Esther's son instead of peacefully accepting the dictates of a group of scared weaklings my aunt would not have died in childbirth. I have done no harm, I have done nothing wrong, and I will no longer cater to the wishes of people too hidebound to see that inaction is sometimes worse than wrong action."  
  
Candles around the room dripped and flickered, but nothing else stirred for a long time. Finally an old man Clow had overlooked stood and spoke for the Elders. "I was there when the decision was made. It's a bitter pill to swallow, but today the moral high ground goes to you. I don't know that you could have saved her. Esther was hemorrhaging right after the baby was born and it happened so fast that there was nothing any of us could have done. Still, it should have been your right to be here for your family at this time. It should have been your right to try."  
  
It was a bitter victory.

\-----

  
The headstone was carved with her name, Esther Cheri Reed Smythe, and the phrase "Nothing is forever; Everything is eternal." There were no dates. Esther had said that she didn't want people to remember when she lived, only that she had lived. It was a sentiment that Clow agreed with.  
  
Cerberus had stayed behind to guard the cards while Yue went with Clow to visit the family cemetery. The silence was unnatural; even the breeze through the trees had a hushed quality and no sounds penetrated from the outside world. Clow didn't want to break the silence, but it was so oppressive that he had to say something or be swallowed by it forever. "She was more like my little sister than my aunt. Dad was so much older that he admitted to me one day he didn't feel like her brother, so he asked me to be her brother instead." Clow tried on a smile, but it still felt a little out of place and strange. "When you and Cerberus were created and she sent me that note, I felt so hurt and betrayed. I thought then that a piece of my soul had died. A part of me resents her for healing that wound, but I am also glad that we didn't--that she didn't...I mean...." He took a deep, shaky breath and tried again. "That she didn't die while I was still angry with her."  
  
Yue's catlike eyes were soft as he reached for Clow's arm to offer some comfort. "Master--"  
  
"No, please...I am tired of being just your master...I can't handle that right now. I don't need a servant, I need a..." he faltered, not sure he could ask that of Yue after so many years of distancing himself from everyone.  
  
"A friend?" The look in Yue's eyes was both hopeful and guarded.  
  
"Is that too much for me to ask of you," Clow asked warily. He was acutely aware that all of his creations  _had_  to do what he asked...but he had no idea if they  _wanted_  to do what he asked.  
  
Yue answered in the only way he could. He cautiously laid his head on Clow's shoulder, wrapping his arms around the magician's body. "I thought you would never ask."

\-----

  
After a while Clow and Yue sat and began talking as equals for the first time. "I'm just realizing that no one should have the power I have fought to gain without being willing to fight for it. With great power comes great responsibility."  
  
"Yes, but doesn't power corrupt people?" Yue enjoyed playing devil's advocate with this scenario.  
  
"The potential for corruption is there, yes. For my own peace of mind I try to keep a check on myself to make sure I'm not harming others. But I now realize that it is not sufficient to avoid harming others; the power I have is wasted if I sit back and not actively do good with it."  
  
"What if you do something wrong?"  
  
"Yue, everybody makes mistakes. No one can be perfect. But if you have no mistakes to learn from you aren't learning the lesson. For example, if I hadn't made a mistake on the Time card when Esther arrived, she would never have been compelled to suggest a new approach and I would still be etching one card at a time trying to get everything perfect."  
  
"And I wouldn't have felt compelled to paint that diorama in your study to disguise the ink stains you left there." Yue's voice was soft...teasing. Clow decided that he liked this side of Yue.  
  
"I wouldn't trade that for the world." Clow smiled, coaxing one of Yue's rare smiles in return. Something stirred within him, tugging at his gut when he saw that he could elicit such a response in his stoic guardian. This was not an emotion that Clow was ready to explore, or even admit to himself, so he went on with his argument. "Still, I have to wonder if creating the cards was the right thing. I want them to be a lasting legacy, even after I die, but how do I ensure that they don't fall into the hands of someone unworthy?"  
  
Yue's smile vanished and a fiercely protective expression replaced it. "I would never let that happen, Master."  
  
Clow's own smile became saddened, but he kept the smile in place as well as he could. "Which one, Yue? The corruption of the cards, or my death?"  
  
"Either. Both. I would never let either happen...that's what I'm here for."  
  
Clow smiled more warmly at his creation, sensing clearly the inner turmoil Yue was suffering. He gestured Yue to come closer and Yue sprang into Clow's arms to gather as much comfort and reassurance as Clow could offer. "Yue, my friend, my creation that I am proudest of, I have yet to meet a human being that will not die or has not died."  
  
Yue looked stubborn, then nuzzled into Clow's chest and muttered. "I won't let it happen."  
  
In that instant Yue reminded Clow of himself when he had been much younger and faced the concept of mortality for the first time. For him it had been his indestructible parents who had succumbed to death's mysterious power. To him it had seemed like one day they were both fine and the next they were wasting away and giving him the talk about how they would be leaving their bodies behind but still watch after him. Some unknown magic force or rival magician had pulled the threads of fate and though they had tried to stop it there was nothing they could do. He thought for a moment about explaining to Yue the same things his parents had tried telling him...but realized that those words hadn't helped and now just wasn't the time. Some day Yue would understand, but trying to press the concept into Yue's mind at this time would be needlessly cruel. Yue would live forever and Cerberus would be his companion. Besides that, Clow had no intention of dying if given the choice. He chuckled. "I believe you Yue. I believe you."


	5. Comfort Food

Cerberus glared at the door every five minutes and then paced back and forth in the front hall. It was already half an hour after supper time and Clow and Yue hadn't returned from the cemetery. He finally sensed Clow returning, but something was wrong. Something was very wrong.  
  
Cerberus heard laughter.  
  
He heard Clow's laughter.  
  
Then he heard Yue's laughter.  
  
Yue rarely smiled. Yue never laughed!  
  
Something was very very wrong.  
  
"Master Clow, Yue!" Cerberus nearly pounced on them as soon as the door opened. "What on earth happened?" He couldn't sense where the hostile magic was coming from. Actually, he couldn't sense hostile magic...or any magic at all. Just the normal ambient magic that emanated from Clow and Yue naturally. "What went wrong?" Cerberus demanded again, thoroughly confused at the pair who just grinned at each other.  
  
Clow kneeled down beside Cerberus and wrapped his arms around the lion's neck reassuringly. "Don't worry, Cerberus. Nothing is wrong, everything is just getting back to right."  
  
Cerberus growled and looked doubtful. " ** _Nothing_** is wrong? Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes, of course."  
  
**_"Then where is my food?!?!?"_**  
  
Clow slid to the floor next to the sun guardian and laughed for a full five minutes before he could think of heading to the kitchen. Cerberus went back and forth between joy for his master and irritation for his empty stomach until Yue came out carrying a platter full of Cerberus' favorite foods. "Are you so starved that you need this here, or can you make it to the dining room?"  
  
This time all three of them laughed...the first laugh the three of them had shared together. Cerberus couldn't figure out what had changed and cheered the other two up so much. In the end it didn't matter though. He was just happy with the feeling that they were finally a  _real_  family.

\-----

  
"Are you sure you won't try just this one strawberry, Yue?" Clow's eyes danced behind his glasses and his lips curved into a teasing smile.  
  
Yue sighed in frustration. This was silly! Just silly! It would be a waste of food for one thing. He'd been over the argument with Clow and Cerberus many times since the first night. "No, Master. It is your food, you should be the one to eat it." He added, in thought only, 'I enjoy watching you enjoy your food too much to take that from you,' but he could never bring himself to say that out loud, even after the companionship they had shared that day.  
  
Clow frowned slightly and the sparkle left his eye at Yue's formality. "I couldn't eat another bite, Yue. Are you sure?" The tone was no longer teasing, just curious and slightly restrained.  
  
Yue's eyes widened as he realized his mistake. He was so used to being formal with Clow that he had said the one thing by habit that could slam everything right back to the way it had been. Today had been the first time since Esther's visit that Clow hadn't seemed painfully lonely and Yue hated himself for shutting that off again. Yue's eyes begged Clow's for forgiveness and all Yue saw in return was sad acceptance. Their eyes held for long moments, trying to take back the past but unsure how when--  
  
"Hey! If you hadn't wanted to eat it I would have appreciated it!" Cerberus whined, breaking the tension.  
  
Clow and Yue shared a look of confusion before they looked at what used to be the strawberry. Clow now held a small cherry blossom...a perfect pink with a delicate sweet scent that was unusually strong but not overpowering. The smell subtly filled the room at first and then dissipated quickly as if the change had released the scent.  
  
Out of the corner of his eye Yue thought he saw Clow look worried, but by the time he focused his eyes on Clow's face again he was simply smiling. "Maybe you would enjoy this more."  
  
Yue smiled and accepted the blossom happily. He immediately brought it up to his nose, savoring the tender scent. It reminded him of home in the springtime when the cherry trees blossomed. It had always made Clow happy and brought him out of the study for at least a few days. One year Clow had created a card in just a week while outside watching Yue and Cerberus play in the garden. Clow had brought out his magical compass and found the right kind of spirit then spent his time sitting there and drawing the card. Yue hadn't realized that Clow was anywhere near finished until he found himself and Cerberus buried in a pile of cherry blossoms. Yue had flown out quickly to figure out what went wrong, but had only found Clow laughing as neither guardian had seen before.  
  
The next day had brought rain and another card spirit, bringing an end to the week that had been the best Yue could remember. "I don't think food could be any better than this, Clow." His eyes were half shut as he relived the memories. The smile that danced on his lips clearly spoke of the pure joy he derived from the small flower. Cerberus grumbled something about wasting the last sweet, juicy strawberry, but Yue easily ignored it. "When we return home we should plant a cherry tree in the center of the garden to read under and enjoy. The ones on the hill are all well and good, but they're just not home." Yue looked up into Clow's eyes suddenly and asked with almost childlike enthusiasm, "Could we?"  
  
"I know the perfect spot," Clow replied, and if his eyes seemed a little too knowing it was something that Yue only noticed in retrospect.

\-----

  
"Sakura..." Clow muttered one more time, trying to clear up the deluge of information that had hit him when he had seen the flower in his hand. It wasn't the blossom that he had seen, but a girl that seemed familiar somehow. At once she felt like an old school friend...and his daughter. He couldn't understand it. He knew that Yue and Cerberus would love her more than him though and that hurt. He could feel their happiness with her. "What went wrong?"  
  
Esther's ghost floated into the room and sat beside him on his bed. "It's about time."  
  
Clow blinked at her questioningly, trying to figure out what she meant.  
  
"Your grief has been so intense that I couldn't come near you until today."  
  
"I hadn't realized."  
  
She simply arched an eyebrow at him and then smiled in sudden understanding. "It's because I must leave my son behind...that makes my death a tragedy. Yes?"  
  
Clow nodded. "That's a large part of it."  
  
"You're putting yourself in his shoes and thinking about losing your own parents. Trying to figure out if it is a greater or lesser loss at this point in life?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And you've been lonely and felt that you couldn't confide in anyone, ne?"  
  
He smiled at that little addition at the end. She had tried, without much success, to learn Japanese when they were younger. Since his mother had spoken Chinese in the home and both his parents spoke Japanese he was fluent in all three languages, but she had always struggled. Still, there were a couple of words she used, but only around him. It had been their secret while growing up. "Hai." He shook his head and then looked deep into her eyes. "How do you know?"  
  
"The same way I've always known things. Intuitive flashes. The same way I knew you would return here."  
  
"Will you stay around after this? Are you able to look out for your loved ones now?"  
  
She smiled sadly. "That would be nice, and I suppose I could, but I have more things to do. I have so much to do. I will see you again, but it won't be like this. You, of all people, should know that death is not the end. It is only a change from what was."  
  
"Yes, of course." He nodded, sad all over again at the thought of losing her just when he should have been able to be close to her again. "I never got to tell you that I always thought of you as my sister."  
  
"You just did, Clow. I will hear everything you tell me when you whisper it to the wind, a part of me will always be with you. This is not some great loss. It is part of a much larger picture of what must be. You will start to see it as you lose those barriers keeping everything out. Let go of your fears and loneliness. You have no need of them anymore, and they will only hold you back when you seek greater wisdom."  
  
"Much easier said than done."  
  
"It wasn't that hard today, was it? Or when you made the Flowery card? We both know what makes you happy. It is time to admit it to yourself."  
  
"I must leave you now. There are other things I need to attend to, and things that you should pay more attention to here. The stars are lovely tonight." With that she faded away, leaving Clow with a lot to think about.


	6. Slipping

It started slow. They went back home and planted the tree. Every season it became larger and larger and it eventually became their favorite spot to sit and read, or just dream. Every day the daydreams took the same twist for Clow Reed though. The little girl he had seen when he created the cherry blossom became more and more a part of those dreams. He would think it was sweet...just a nice daydream brought on by his thirst to be a father...but he knew that wasn't all there was to it.  
  
"Immortality has brushed the tips of my fingers...and the closer I get the faster I feel it slipping away." These were the words on his personal journal a week before when he saw in a vision that Yue and Cerberus would love this girl more. He hadn't been able to bring himself to write since then. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would some day be dead and his beloved guardians would be in the care of another.  
  
He hadn't aged or gotten ill since the day he had created Cerberus and Yue. He had gained enough power that there were no threats to him physically or magically, and immortality had seemed almost assured. Despite this, he knew now for sure that he was dying.  
  
He put it out of his mind yet again and concentrated harder on the task at hand. An elusive spirit had been skating the edges of his awareness and he couldn't figure out what card it would represent and power best. It had an affinity to the time card, but it was more contemplative...it seemed to either be reacting to his mood or causing him to be more thoughtful than usual.  
  
It would come...it would come.  
  
A piece of paper fluttered down, appearing magically at eye level. It informed him that his cousin, Li Chang, had died of old age and recanted his wish that Clow never set foot in China again. Li had lived to see his bicentennial birthday approach but just miss by a few short years. It was the first time Clow had thought of his own age for...a century?  
  
"No wonder it weighs so heavily on my mind," Clow murmured with a wry smile.  
  
"Master?" Yue's head snapped up; startled by the sudden interruption of their usual silence.  
  
Clow waved the note in the air. "Mortality. This was sent to inform me that Chang died of old age. Some day I'll be dead too, and I've been dwelling on that."  
  
"But I am immortal. I haven't changed since the day I was created. You haven't changed in all that time either. Maybe you are immortal too now."  
  
The last bit was said with such hope that it hurt Clow to realize that he would have to disillusion Yue. He started to say something, gently, when something else on the note caught his eye. "I don't believe this!"  
  
The look of confusion on Yue's face was priceless, but Clow didn't enjoy it nearly as much as he would have at any other time. Seeing the perfect angel get flustered was strangely endearing to his creator. "You...don't believe...you--What?"  
  
"The new head of the Li Clan, in order to strengthen the bloodline, wants me to marry some girl named Kazumi. She lives near here actually; she was raised in Japan so that--"  
  
Yue calmly arched an eyebrow. "Yes?"  
  
Clow read and reread the note, his eyes getting a far away look. "She was raised near here so that we would have things in common. This is Chang's last wish, that I marry his great-great granddaughter. Any child of the union would be in line to be head of the clan provided that the child has magic."  
  
"You don't have much of a choice then, do you?"  
  
"Yue, there are always choices. I just don't know which one would be better in this circumstance."  
  
Yue stood up quickly at that point. "You should marry her." He flew away, leaving too quickly for Clow to react.  
  
Clow mused for a few minutes longer. If he was supposed to marry this girl, why were these unwanted visions telling him nothing of it? Descendants...yes, he felt strongly that he would have descendants some day. A wife? Children? Something wasn't right with this...he had a bad feeling about this.

\-----

  
Yue flew off to the tallest tower in the nearest town and gazed up at the sky all night long. His thoughts circled around and around, contradicting and dead ending without any possibility of resolution. He wanted to make sure that his inner turmoil wouldn't show around anyone else; he didn't want to burden anyone else with his emotions. The dawn came much faster than he expected though and dashed his thoughts away. He had forgotten almost that time was still passing while his thoughts ran on and on.  
  
He flew back home and hurried through his normal routine. Then, as usual, he woke Clow and then Cerberus with promises of a sweet breakfast. He allowed himself a small smile as he thought of how different the two of them were in all ways  _except_  appetite. Cerberus was loud, excitable, irritating, boisterous, and immature. Clow was reserved, calm, soothing, and wise. They bonded when it came to sugar though, something that Yue just didn't understand.  
  
"Yue, what in the world possessed you to smile? Especially this early in the morning!" Cerberus growled, but teasingly.  
  
Yue responded in the only appropriate way...he ignored it. "One bowl of strawberries, peaches, and cream. The sugar is in the middle of the table...as usual." He rolled his eyes and left the room, busying himself with a book he had been trying to get through. He was too distracted to actually read it though--he admitted that when he realized that he had read the same paragraph enough times to have it memorized.  
  
He started pacing, but found that to be just as pointless as the reading had been. He didn't know what to say to Clow to ease his emotions, so he couldn't find relief that way. Cerberus wouldn't understand in the least, so that was also a dead end. Yue knew that he'd just have to bury it all again and hide that part of him so deep that no one would know. He had done it before. Now he had an even more important reason to do it again.  
  
There was a knock at the door. Yue literally flew to answer it, but was still a few seconds later than Clow. A young woman's voice greeted them as soon as the door was open. "I am Li Kazumi. You should have been expecting me."  
  
She had long, light brown hair, bright green eyes, and held herself with a poised assurance that didn't fit her apparent young age. She was dressed in white; still in mourning for the head of her family. Her eyes were bright from all the tears that had been shed recently, but she wore a smile now as if it were an honest representation of her emotional state despite her mourning. She bowed to Clow and then to Yue demurely and when she was invited in she walked as if she floated an inch from the ground.  
  
Yue felt himself sink to the ground, stunned. She was perfect. Clow would be a fool not to fall in love with her right there and then...and if he did what would happen to Yue and Cerberus? Shifting his features to neutral, he bowed to the girl who could be his undoing.


	7. Inevitable

Li Kazumi wandered through the large, traditional house that her "fiancée" had sealed himself up in for so long. She wanted to find it beautiful, she wanted to be impressed, but she thought that everything was too stark. It was a huge house. It was well built. There seemed to be no life to it though. It may have been beautiful in its simplicity, but she didn't want simplicity. She wanted a kaleidoscope of color and beauty. She wanted cozy and warm. Clow's home was spacious, empty, and cold.  
  
Still, she smiled. She had loved Grandfather Chang with all her heart. There had been times when he had been the only person who seemed to believe in her and think she was more than just a worthless daughter. If Grandfather's wish had been that she marry this man she would give up all her own hopes and dreams for it. She would not disgrace the memory of her grandfather. She would never give any hint that she was not happy to do anything for Grandfather Chang.  
  
Kazumi decided that she couldn't wander around such a stark house anymore. The sun shone brightly and the air was warm outside. She walked off into the garden and was surprised to see that she wasn't the only one with that idea. Cerberus was lounging on the grass near the huge cherry tree. Sunbeams kissed him when they peeked between leaves in the tree, giving him a hint of what he'd look like as a cheetah. She giggled at the thought of laid-back Cerberus being that fast for any reason except food.  
  
"I know you're not laughing at me, Kazumi-chan." Cerberus growled gently without opening his eyes. "My presence is awe inspiring, not silly, and I look very intimidating."  
  
Kazumi smiled more and walked over to stroke the lion-beast between his great wings. "You are just so cute when you sleep like that! I couldn't resist."  
  
He purred for a moment, then cracked open an eye. "It must be something about girls. Do girls think  _everything_  is cute?"  
  
"Another girl told you so?" Kazumi felt hope stir in her heart that Clow might have another interest...someone she could defer to. It would be enough for her grandfather's memory that she had tried if Clow were already spoken for.  
  
"Esther. Clow's aunt. She died centuries ago."  
  
"Oh." Kazumi tried not to let her disappointment show, but she couldn't help reacting at least a little. Her shoulders slumped for a moment and her eyes lost much of their shine, but she pulled herself together quickly. "Have there been any other girls around to think you are cute?"  
  
"No, we spend most of our time alone. It takes a special person to accept Yue and especially me for who we are and what we are. It takes an even more special person to put up with Clow though, I think." He chuckled.  
  
Kazumi bit her lower lip in sudden anxiety. "Why would he be hard to put up with? He seems like a pleasant man."  
  
Cerberus stood up on all four paws and looked her in the eyes. "Kazumi, you should know already what I mean. You have been a guest under our roof since Li Chang died. Can you tell me where Master Clow is right now?"  
  
"I have no idea, Cerberus."  
  
"You make every appearance of caring, but you are here because of obligation. Master Clow has been busy with a card for a week now and you would have noticed if you had any emotions for him. Was there someone else that you loved and wanted to marry?"  
  
Kazumi gasped. "How did you know?"  
  
Cerberus griped. "Why are people so surprised when I can see what's right in front of me? After all this time living with those two I should know what unrequited love looks like, even if you try to smile to hide it. I don't look stupid when I look in a mirror...is there something everybody else is missing?"  
  
"No, this is no good! Grandfather wanted to bring more magic into the family. How can I do that if he loves someone else...and so do I?"  
  
Kazumi hadn't heard the footsteps behind her, but suddenly she felt a powerful magical aura directly behind her. "I--someone else?" Kazumi felt faint when she realized that Clow had heard what she had just said.

\-----

  
Clow frowned slightly. "Cerberus, would you give us some privacy?"  
  
He didn't wait for an answer; he just grabbed Kazumi's hand and guided her to a different part of the garden. "Chang had no authority over me that I did not give him willingly. I obeyed his injunction to stay away from Hong Kong only because he said he'd kill me or die trying. I did not want him to die trying."  
  
"Then why did you entertain me in your home for this long? Why did you seem to agree to his last request if you had no desire to actually fulfill it?"  
  
"You seemed so happy." He gave her a gentle smile, but he knew deep down inside that that was the least of his reasons. He was lonely. He had really wanted to fulfill his cousin's last request. He felt that there was something special about Kazumi, and realized that if she stayed he could grow to love her. Eventually. Cerberus seemed to like her even though Yue had almost disappeared since her arrival. She had a sweet and almost convincing smile, and a pure and lonely aura.  
  
For the first time she started crying where he could see. "I want to be happy here, but I'm not. I feel so alone here and out of place. I want to fulfill my obligations, but I wish to have the freedom to decide my own fate too."  
  
"Kazumi, I do not want to keep you here against your will, especially if you love someone else."  
  
Kazumi had been perfect and demure the entire time she had been there, never raising her voice above a low murmur. For the first time she now shrieked out, "I have no choice!" She threw her hands in front of her face and began sobbing. "If I return and have not brought your child with me I am a failure. If I return unmarried I will be turned away. My only value to them is my magic and my womb; Grandfather was the only one who ever pretended to think more of me. He betrayed me the worst though, to send me away to be bred for that damned magic alone when he had been so nice before!" She became incoherent as her sobs wracked her body.  
  
Clow could feel that Cerberus had circled around to try to eavesdrop, and Yue had come flying to figure out why Kazumi had shouted. Acutely aware that they were not private at all, he tried to calm her down and soothe her. She pulled away from him as he reached out to her. "I just want to--"  
  
"No! I can't even fulfill their least expectations now because you have another love. Who is it? Some city girl that doesn't know a thing about you and your magic? Or your guardian bishounen, Yue?"  
  
Clow blanched. He could feel Yue's shock for that first damning second, and then Yue slammed his emotional shields up and Clow couldn't feel a thing from him.  
  
Kazumi looked up at that exact instant. She gasped and all the blood drained from her face. "Oh no...oh no...I...I'm sorry...I...." She stood and ran quickly, leaving Clow and Yue in an uncomfortable silence.  
  
Clow stood and took a few steps toward the girl, knowing that he could calm Yue later. Yue had always been there, he was a constant in Clow's life, but Kazumi was unpredictable and wild. Then he stopped, realizing that Yue was much more important and probably needed him more right now. "Windy, bring the girl back to me. Release!" He then captured Yue's eyes with his own gaze. "Yue, we will talk about this later."  
  
"There is nothing to talk about, Master Clow." Yue turned away and left slowly. "It's waited this long, it can wait another century or so."  
  
Clow trembled, reaching a hand out toward Yue's retreating back. He felt as though he had been stabbed through the heart. "I--" The Windy card returned, interrupting him. Kazumi looked disgruntled, but she had calmed down. "Kazumi. Return here in a month with your beloved. I am sure I can come up with a solution that will satisfy everyone without causing any more heartache. I am the world's most powerful sorcerer; if I can't solve this no one can."  
  
"Why are you still willing to help me? You should hate me for what I did."  
  
"No, I know things that you don't. I know that Yue will get over what you said eventually. I know that you and I will never be married, but I have a strong feeling that we will be friends. It would be a grave injustice to you if we were married and I don't think I could do that to anyone right now."  
  
"What do you mean?" Her brow furrowed in total confusion and she crossed her arms across her chest.  
  
"I'm losing control of my magic. I know things I shouldn't without seeking the knowledge and I can't shut it off. I can't shut anything out. I have caused idle thoughts to take on a form of reality without effort. And it's getting worse. I might be safe for another twenty years, but after that I won't be able to contain myself at all. The pure energy will come pouring out of me and as long as I'm alive I will be a danger to the entire world. In order to stop that from happening I will have to embrace mortality and let myself die."  
  
"Do Yue and Cerberus know?"  
  
"Not yet."  
  
There was a long silence for a while and they were both lost in deep thought. "I wouldn't begin to know how to help you. Isn't there anything you can do?"  
  
He shook his head. "It's inevitable, like so many things in this world. The only thing I can do to stop it is to die. I was hit with the vision of that the day you arrived, but I have had hints of it before. I've been trying to figure out the answers, but there are none. Keep this in perspective though; I have lived longer than anyone else I know. It is not a tragedy for an old man to die when he has finished living his life."  
  
She smiled. "You don't look that old. It's hard to remember that you were close in age to Grandfather...but he always looked ancient. You look more like you're on the young side of mature."  
  
Clow laughed and his eyes twinkled merrily. "I have looked this age for centuries. I have my health, but inside, where it counts, I'm starting to feel a little spread thin. I would think that a vacation from this life and this overload of memories would be a welcome change. I'm almost looking forward to death."  
  
"Now you sound like Grandpa Chang," Kazumi said, rolling her eyes. "I think, under different circumstances, I could have come to love you, Clow Reed."  
  
"I am beginning to think the same thing about you, Li Kazumi. I am glad that our paths crossed."

\-----

  
Yue stood in the library, looking out at the garden from the window. His thoughts were swirling so fast that he couldn't keep track of them. The sadness overwhelmed him, but on the outside he was as still as a marble statue. He heard Kazumi's footfalls behind him and tracked her every move, but he refused to turn and face her.  
  
"I am very sorry Yue, for hurting you."  
  
Hard as stone, cold as ice, he still did not acknowledge her presence.  
  
"I want you to know that I'll be leaving tomorrow morning."  
  
'Good,' he thought. He lifted his head a touch higher, but that was the only sign that he paid any attention at all.  
  
"He deserves someone much better than I could be. I am much too young and foolish."  
  
'Yes, he does,' Yue agreed mentally, but the only outward show that her words hand any effect was a flicker of his eyes toward her to gauge her sincerity.

  
"He still deserves someone better than you though," she said with all the venom she could muster.  
  
"What?" His whole body tensed and he turned around to glare at her.  
  
"You string him along and make him pine for you. You won't let him get close, but won't let him have anyone else. He deserves better than that. It's past time for you to make up your mind and claim him or cast him aside."  
  
"It's inappropriate for me to have such feelings for my master; for my creator. He's free to have whoever he wants." A tear ran unchecked down Yue's face, landing softly on his pure white shirt. "He could have me at any time he wants me, he is my master, but he is the one that holds me at bay. Why would he want a creature like me when he could have another human? And who are you to judge?"  
  
"I have listened to all three of you the whole time I was here...and more importantly I listened to what was not said. It has all come together in my mind, and there are things a stranger can figure out that you wouldn't be able to see in another hundred years on your own. Clow loves you, but he is afraid. He wants you to love him for who he is, but he's afraid that you'll just accept his orders because he's your master. He wants you to be his partner, not his servant, but you keep reminding him of that barrier. He thinks you do it because you don't love him but only feel obliged to him for your existence. He doesn't want it that way, and I can't blame him."  
  
Yue turned away again, a shiver running down his spine. How did she know so much suddenly? "I don't know what to do about it."  
  
"Talk to him, Yue. You need to tell him how you feel. He will never burden you with his feelings, so it is up to you. End his suffering; end your suffering. You never know when it will be too late."  
  
"What do you mean, too la--" Yue turned around in time to see her slump against the door frame. She picked herself up again easily, but her posture changed. She had been confident and assured a moment ago, but now she was the demure flower he was used to seeing. Her voice changed also when she looked at him again.  
  
"I-I wanted to say that I am sorry for what I said today. I will be leaving in the morning. Good night, Yue. And good luck."  
  
She walked away slowly, and it took Yue a while after she had disappeared to realize what had just happened. "Esther? Ahhh...thank you."  
  
He looked out into the night sky and gazed into the heavens for a long time, gathering courage. There were so many things he wanted to say, so many ways he could say them, and he slipped up to the roof to sort them out, missing Kazumi's departure. He could finally take the speculation no longer, and at sunset the next night he slipped silently back into his home. Yue and Clow had both waited in patient agony for far too long, and it was time to do something about it.


	8. Solace

The house was so quiet that Clow double-checked the Silent Card again to make sure she hadn't gotten free. He pulled out the card and Silent was there, eyes looking more content than usual. "Ah, my sweet, you're just enjoying this, not causing it," he whispered as he placed the card back. He sat back in his favorite chair and sighed, turning to the next page in his book. He wasn't really reading it though, his mind was drifting to other things and the words just passed under the gaze of his eyes.

He hadn't found Yue since Kazumi had left. He was almost terrified to seek out the angelic being. The confidence he had felt that afternoon had dried up as soon as he had tried to decide on the words to comfort Yue and assure him of his love. The words had gone unspoken for so long; he could never figure out a way to say what he wanted without giving Yue an order to love him, direct or implied. He was terrified of abusing the power he had over his innocent moon guardian. He was terrified of hearing words of love upon the lips of someone who was only trapped by circumstance. It would be too much like rape, and that was something he could not stomach the thought of.

"Clow?" Yue's voice was a soft and soothing caress that sent shivers up Clow's spine. He savored the sensation a moment, reveling in the sweet and tender heartbreak that overcame him at moments like this. Even after centuries of being constant companions this beautiful, perfect, and  **untouchable**  creation of his made his stomach flutter with unrestrained emotion. "Clow, I need to talk to you."

Clow put his usual smile on with care and slipped his bookmark into place absentmindedly. "What can I do for you, Yue?" He knew what this had to be about. Kazumi had brought something out in the open that had been unspoken for longer than most people lived. Would this be the worst disaster in the world, or would everything turn out better? He couldn't think of a middle ground in this case.

Yue absently chewed on his lower lip and Clow suddenly realized how vulnerable Yue was. He was ruled by wind and water…and his emotions and how he expressed them reflected that. He could be stirred by fleeting emotions, ruffled by them, but the truest ones ran deep where there was no hint from the surface. There was so much to Yue that could not be fathomed, and that was one of the reasons Clow had such a hard time opening up. He couldn't be sure if Yue would return his feelings or be scarred deep down by not being able to express his own shock or hurt at unwanted attention.

Finally, with great effort, Yue walked over and kneeled before Clow, placing his head on Clow's knee. The words that followed came out in a rush, as Yue finally said the words that they had both run away from for so long. "Clow, I love you. I have loved you from the first instant I set eyes on you. But…that was the way I was made. The way you made me. I--I'm not sure if that is what you want. I feel like my emotion, if it is merely a projection of the magic that created me, is unworthy of you." Tears glistened across the marble skin of Yue's face as they slid across his cheeks and onto Clow's robes.

Clow stroked Yue's snowy white hair, trying to soothe the pain he was going through. "That is what has held me back all this time. I did not create you to be my lover. I allowed the magic to choose the form, and it was an accident or coincidence that you are in every detail what I think of as perfection. For my safety I created guardians who would willingly die for me…and I have found that now I would gladly lay my own life on the line for you."

Yue looked up, pain reflected in his eyes at the thought. "No," he gasped softly. "You should never…never…please don't say such things. I would be nothing without you."

Clow sighed heavily. "That--that is a discussion for another day." He didn't want to deal with his own mortality right now, and forcing Yue to deal with it at this exact moment was much more than he could handle. "Suffice it to say that I have come to love you more than I ever thought I could, and I, too, would be shattered by your loss. It is for that reason that I decided from the first that I would not touch you. I can't let myself take advantage of you like that."

Yue nodded and shifted his weight to stand. "My feelings  _are_  unworthy of you then." The pain and bitterness on his face cut Clow to the heart.

"Wait." Clow grasped Yue's hand and held on gently but firmly. Yue did not struggle, but did not kneel down again. "If I could take that love away from you and replace it with mere loyalty…if I offered that would you want it?"

Yue's body went rigid with shock at the suggestion. "No!" Then his eyes slipped closed and he thought about it. "And maybe yes. This love hurts and I would rather feel nothing than have feelings that aren't real and aren't worthy of you."

"Some day I hope that you will realize that unrequited love is better than losing the object of your love. It is something you will have to see for yourself another time though. If I took away your love of me I would have to cast a spell to remove the greatest love of everyone who knew you and I.. That is not a spell I would use lightly because it would cause devastation and emptiness in many hearts and the world is in short enough supply of love as it is." He found himself caressing Yue's hand absently, his thumb tracing the same path over and over on Yue's soft skin. His mind wandered as he marveled over being able to be this close to Yue, he thought about the nature of love and his magic, and realized what he should have figured out a long time ago. "When I created you I made you love me. Yue, I did not do any magic to cause you to fall in love with me. If your love for me is that kind of love…if it is then it is not the magic. Your love should not be painful, it should not cause you conflict if it is merely from the spell."

Hope dawned in Yue's eyes. "Is there a way to know without doubt?"

Clow stood up and thought about it, pacing across the room. Yue was chewing on his bottom lip again, nervous and agitated but staying still and waiting. It distracted Clow every time he looked until a blinding flash of inspiration hit him. "Shield card, protect Yue from magical spells that have an effect on his feelings. Release!"

The magic surrounded his creation, and what followed seemed like an eternity of anxious waiting to know, one way or the other. Clow looked into Yue's eyes carefully, starting out looking for hints of emotion, but eventually drowning in his own emotional response. The hope that stirred within him was entirely too fragile, and he wondered how he would survive if his hopes were dashed. This meant more to him than he had been willing to admit, even within.

\-----

The card's magic surrounded Yue in a glowing bubble and Yue felt slightly cut off from the rest of the world. He felt diminished and lonely, but as he allowed his eyes to settle again on Clow's face he felt the familiar pang in his heart. He still wanted to hold and be held by the magician; he still felt his heart constrict at the thought of  **more**. His heart whispered of things he wanted to do to the man if they were given time alone. He wanted to spend nights under the moonlit sky being able to reach over and touch Clow in ways he had never been touched before. It was a bittersweet feeling that intertwined desire and companionship and the longing to be held, skin on skin, for hours.

He smiled softly and walked through the Shield, breaking the spell and bringing the full spectrum of emotion back. He barely noticed it. Shield returned to card form and flew back into Clow's hand, arriving shortly before Yue.

"Clow, I  **am**  in love with you. My heart aches for you, and that was only slightly diminished without magic. Can you--will you accept that? Will you accept me now?"

"Gods," Clow whispered, reaching for Yue. "Why did I ever doubt?"

To Yue the question was silly. That was in the past, and now they had the present and future to deal with. He reached a hand up to brush Clow's cheek, then cupping Clow's face he pulled his Master in for a kiss. As his lips brushed against the other man's lips for the first time Yue felt something within him glowing, burning, melting. He pulled back with his eyes wide open, wondering if Clow had felt the same thing. He at once felt delicate and fragile as if the wrong words would shatter him into pieces, but at the same time felt strength and energy flowing into him and assuring him that all that would shatter tonight would be defenses he no longer needed.

Clow's arms wrapped around Yue and they were both lost in the moment. Their eyes met and spoke volumes about the love they shared and how much those wasted years had hurt them both. Yue felt warm and loved and accepted; he rested his head on Clow's shoulder just to hear the quickening of Clow's heart as they felt the thrill of finally accepting each other for who and what they were. Time seemed to slow and Yue held on to this perfect moment, feeling for once complete.

And, finally, Clow lifted Yue's face to his once more and kissed him again. It started again with lips gently brushing against each other and sending shocks of energy at the touch. Yue's eyes slid shut and he parted his lips slightly to give an involuntary sigh. Clow's lips parted also, deepening the kiss, bringing them closer, and finally tasting and offering a taste of himself. Their tongues pressed against each other, caressing each other, and swirling into each other as their passions grew. Every spot of Yue's skin where Clow now touched him burned and tingled and he was very aware of the hands pressing against his back. They parted, each one trying to catch his breath, holding on to each other with a desperation and need that caused Yue's knees to quake.

"Is this--sweet?" Yue's hand reached up and touched his lips. His eyes were slightly glazed and his emotions were for once plainly painted on his normally reserved face.

When he looked up at the other man's face, there was a mixture of confusion and amusement. "Is what sweet?"

Yue flushed, bringing color to his usually pale complexion. "Your mouth. It was like the smell of sweet things I've made for you and watched you eat a thousand times, but...this was more intense. I think you taste sweet."

"Ah yes. I had just finished a strawberry shortcake before you walked in. I was so lost in my thoughts I forgot to enjoy it. I'm glad you did." The smile on his face was shy, peaceful, and proud. "I can introduce you to other tastes tonight, if you are willing."

Yue watched, entranced, as Clow's skin glowed with a blush at his boldness. The warmth of his own skin wouldn't leave, so he said what was on his mind without hesitation. "Will those tastes be you?"

Clow nodded.

"I am very willing."

No more words were necessary between them.


	9. Loss and Devastation

A baby. His baby.  **HIS**  baby! And where was he?  
  
Yue moaned softly while chills ran up and down his body. He was using his new false form to attend Clow's funeral. Kazumi and her husband were there. Kazumi's daughter by Clow rested in a basket oblivious to the grief that had Yue paralyzed. He was so wrapped up in how much it hurt that he was surprised the whole world couldn't feel it.  
  
The false form grieved too, but it was different. The false form had few memories. He would remember attending his parent's funeral. It would be distant and unimportant to that form though; Yue wanted to keep all that pain to himself. He wanted to dive into the anguish and have it extinguish him. He didn't want to share it with anyone else. He didn't wish it on anyone else. It was all his and he could look at all the wasted years he had lived with Clow and done nothing, and he could kill himself slowly with each moment a little bit at a time.  
  
He did it again. He caught himself looking around for someone. For the someone that had always been there and wouldn't be there ever again. Clow would walk around the corner. Clow would be resting under the tree. Clow would walk through the door. Clow would be sitting, as always, in his most comfortable chair.  
  
Clow would be laying beside him in bed.  
  
But it didn't happen anymore. Yue kept looking, but no longer found what he expected and  _that_  was driving him over the edge. He went hopelessly on with his routine. He didn't have anything else anymore. Yet even in the routine there was pain. Breakfast in the morning was now only eaten by a groggy and dazed Cerberus. The house collected dust, but nothing else was disturbed so there wasn't much else to clean. The cards were kept safe in their new book where they were kept without the memory of their Master. Clow had asked him at one point, right before the end, if Yue wanted to have his memory erased too. The thought horrified and tempted him.  
  
Master, how could I forget about you?  
  
The funeral.  
  
The baby.  
  
**HIS**  baby.  
  
Yue was torn apart inside.  
  
Someone was about to walk over and start talking to him, to the false form. Kazumi was closer and saved him from the stranger. Her eyes were kind and understanding; her gaze pierced through the outer facade and offered sympathy for the older and wiser being suffering behind the blank eyes.  
  
"We should get you back home, this has been an ordeal for us all."  
  
How would she know? Did she spend hundreds of years with the man and have half of her soul softly and silently melt away in the night? Despite sharing a child the two hadn't been lovers. Yue wasn't sure how it had been managed, but this young girl couldn't begin to understand what was missing now.  
  
No one understood how alone he was now.  
  
The false form had just nodded and followed her like a puppet on strings. Yue would flesh out his personality later. It wouldn't be needed for a long time, he hoped.  
  
That would be good for a distraction, right? A history. A personality. Maybe some imaginary family too.  
  
No, not yet. There would be time for that....  
  
They were walking through the door and the outside world closed behind them. "Yue, appear."  
  
The false form dissolved, slipping away like a mist behind Yue's wings. As the wings parted the world came into sharper focus and he felt the weight of responsibility for his actions again. It was no longer pretend. It was no longer beyond his control.  
  
The corners of his mouth drew down. His eyes had become at times a pale blue or a reflective silver since Clow had announced his mortality. His skin was somehow paler. Still, the mirror reflected a timeless image of what Clow had called perfection. Everything was the same and yet everything was horribly changed. The world was a parody of itself.  
  
Yue felt like a shadow of what he had been and was surprised every day that the world did not reflect that difference.  
  
Kazumi spoke. "I am sorry. You hurt for all the things you had and will miss. Those are things that I will never know and will never have, so I don't know how to help you. I suspect that there isn't anything I could do to help. Not really at least. No one could help when I lost Grandfather, and that is as far as I can sympathize." Her words began slurring and her voice got heavy as she fought back tears. "I wish I knew the words to make the pain go away. If I could I would erase the regret I feel now for telling Clow that I loved someone else. After his kindness, after getting to know him better, I envied you for years. When Clow had finally finished his spell to give me his child I hated you that you were what kept him in the world a year longer. But the pain written on your face--I don't know if anyone could envy you for that. I'm sorry."  
  
Yue just stared at her...and continued to stare. He hadn't heard a word she said. He watched the expression on her face go from sympathy to expectation and finally to hurt. "I--I need to go." He turned around and left without giving her another thought. The door closed softly behind him, but the sound barely registered.

\-----

  
Cerberus watched Yue wander around aimlessly and felt his own heart tear in two. No amount of pudding would drown this sorrow. Clow had left them and Yue was nearly dead himself.  
  
And the pudding lately hadn't been worth eating...Yue kept forgetting to put sugar in it.  
  
Sugar. Sweet things. Sweet smells like flowers. Sweet foods like chocolate. Sweet people like Esther and, eventually, Kazumi. These were the things that Clow and Cerberus had appreciated together the most.  
  
And Yue. He had been sweet in his own shy way. Cerberus may never admit it, but he had seen the sweetness there. Like the pudding Yue made now though, there was no sweet left. Yue had forgotten to add sugar to himself.  
  
Well, Cerberus didn't feel very sweet himself lately. Maybe Yue didn't forget the sugar, maybe Cerberus just couldn't taste it anymore.  
  
Everything else tasted bland and without flavor too. The colors seemed dull and memories weren't vivid anymore. He didn't want to cat-nap anymore either, he wanted to fall into an endless sleep where death was a fleeting dream.  
  
He found that Yue had wandered into the room with him with the same lost expression on his face.  
  
"Yue, maybe it's time. The cards will rest easier with us guarding them, and we will rest easier near them."  
  
Near the other creations of the Master. It would remind Cerberus of the good things Clow did and help him feel closer to the magician. It might even stop some of the bitter resentment that was building in him about being left behind. The feeling didn't make sense, but it was there. Cerberus wanted to call Clow a silly and fluffy wand waver...and other things. He was hurt, he was angry, he was scared, and he was confused. His mind wandered and he was easily distracted.  
  
"Not yet, he might have left a note we didn't find. Or he might come back as a ghost because he needs us to do something. He might have forgotten something. We can't. Not yet."  
  
"There was the wake. The Elders of the Circle said that he would show up then if he showed at all. Then there was the funeral today. Kazumi would have seen him or sensed him if he had stuck around for unfinished business."  
  
"Do you think he is lost? We could--"  
  
"Yue! We can't do anything more! He's gone, he's left us! Clow! Is! Dead!"  
  
Yue looked like he had been slapped across the face. He stood up taller and Cerberus could almost see ice form behind the dark pupils of his eyes. "Yes, of course. He was just a Master to you. You will have another some day. Time to just pack up and move on, right?"  
  
Fire burned behind Cerberus' eyes, but he held his temper in check. Barely. "I will not say anything more to you now. If I do I will regret it because I loved Clow and I love you, believe it or not you selfish dolt."  
  
With that Cerberus disappeared into the book and sought the peace of a deep sleep. He noticed that Yue didn't stay behind for long, but he slept so deep after that that nothing would wake him. His sleep was filled with dreams of where the book went for countless years, and he picked up many things, but finally the sleep was so deep that only the loss of all of the cards shook him from his slumber.

  



	10. Transitions

Half a world away, and a long, long time later, a little boy with dark hair woke up with a start. He was plagued by strange dreams of beautiful women who turned into cards and a large lion wearing golden armor. Then there was the guardian angel with the long white hair and misty gray or silver or violet eyes that changed and looked like a cat's eyes. He loved everyone in these dreams, and the dreams began to feel more real than the life he was stuck with. Eriol's parents were rich and always gone. His nanny cared about him, but she was a professional and the word "love" was frowned upon. He was lonely and wished that people like the lion and the angel would love him like that.  
  
As soon as he thought about it he knew he could do it too.  
  
He also knew that he shouldn't do it. His parents didn't believe in magic even though his ancient grandmother seemed to. His father would always shush the old lady when she started in on one of her "stories", but Eriol somehow knew that there was more. He took Grandmother very seriously when she said that magic wasn't something to be toyed with or used just because you could. "Always have a purpose or bad things will follow," the lady would say finally as her son glared daggers. That would end the conversation every time.  
  
Then he remembered that there had been something bad in this last dream. Something horrifying. Something so terrible that he had woken because he wanted to scream.  
  
Something  _real_.  
  
He wasn't surprised when Laura, his nanny, knocked on the door and opened it with a bit of hesitation. "Master Eriol, I have terrible news." She wrapped arms around him and held him tight, giving him one of her rare but special shows of affection. "Mr. and Mrs. Hiiragizawa were flying home tonight to surprise you, but the plane...it didn't make it. Your parents won't be coming home. I am so sorry...." Her voice faded into a buzz like the drone of an insect. The strangers who had provided him with a genetic make up and enough money to make Queen Elizabeth jealous were not coming back.  
  
He was somehow ready for it. Almost expecting it. This was right and proper and the order of things. He comforted Laura more than she comforted him. Grandmother would manage the finances until Eriol came of age. Eriol would have more important things to take care of, and fate had released him to do it.  
  
He looked out the window to the darkness and knew that it was almost time. There was no moon in the sky; it would be rising with the sun since it was a new moon. Without thinking he brushed a kiss against Laura's cheek and asked to be left alone in the garden. She nodded and assured him that she understood. She obviously thought that he needed to be alone to express his pain, but there was none. He felt a more urgent need, pressed by the fact that the sun and moon would rise soon.  
  
How did it go?  
  
He bent his will toward shaping the magic in the air. He pulled out a stick and drew the symbols in the dirt, starting with two large circles side by side. He knew that once, a long time ago, he could have done the same thing without drawing the symbols on the physical plane, but he had forgotten everything. He almost snapped out of the near trance when he started wondering how he could have known  _anything_  a long time ago when he was so young.  
  
It didn't matter. He needed to do this. There was a simple beauty in the urgency he felt for the companionship of people who would genuinely care about his existence. He smiled and bent his will to the creation of a guardian of the sun, and a guardian of the moon. They would be his companions and friends, as much as they would be his servants. They would never die. Just like he would now never die.  
  
Out of the mist of the predawn cold two beings began to coalesce. Dark as the new moon that was rising came a large panther with dark butterfly wings, and a very pretty human adult with wings like the panther's. Eriol grinned and stirred the elements, breathing life into his creations. "Hello master," began the panther in a cultured voice. "Who are you that we may know whom we serve?"  
  
"I am Eriol Hiiragizawa" he began, but another voice was speaking in his mind at the same time. I am Clow Reed, the voice said. Memories of a life that spanned centuries were suddenly superimposed upon his own short life. He had the knowledge and skill now to do nearly anything. He had the wisdom to keep himself from becoming power-hungry and greedy with his newfound abilities. He also had an overwhelming sense of loneliness and disappointment that this life would be led in as much solitude as his last.  
  
The last piece of knowledge to fall upon his shoulders was the hardest to bear by far. I have made a grave mistake, he thought to himself. Creating these two at this exact moment could be the gravest mistake I have ever made. They would never give him the same comfort and love that Yue and Cerberus had given Clow Reed. More importantly though, their creation signaled the beginning of a great and terrible imbalance that could destroy him forever.  
  
"Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun, I...I welcome you both into this world. Come with me, we have a lot to learn." The two dark guardians looked at each other and shrugged. He would not burden them with the enormity of his mistake, but that also meant he would not share with them the deepest parts of himself that made the bond between Clow and his guardians so strong.  
  
\-----  
  
His grandparents were old and sick, but the important thing was that the Kinomotos had survived their son and his wife. They would take in their grandson now and teach him to celebrate life and not mourn death. Kinomoto Fujitaka knew he was loved and accepted, and loneliness only haunted his dreams despite losing his mom and dad so young. Death was not the end. He missed his parents with a pain that was indescribable, but not incapacitating. He missed them, but his life was full of family and friends that kept him from being lonely. Part of him knew that he'd lose them too, but there would be more people in his life to love and care for. There always had been and always would be.  
  
He knew that the perspective he had was unique for his age, but he just attributed it to being faced with hardships others hadn't and having so much support. He used to have dreams all the time about more, but the night his parents died they had all stopped with a solitary vision of a boy his age, an English garden at night, and giant black butterfly wings. The next morning he got the news about his parents, and all the magic seemed to slip from his dreams.  
  
It didn't bother him. He dove into life with gusto and learned all he could. He had a talent for helping others understand things, and an insatiable curiosity now. He found patience because he understood suddenly that everybody had the same emotions flowing through them, and he easily put himself in their places.  
  
Years passed and the dreams faded, but life itself was full of experience. Fujitaka didn't smile much, but he never let things bring him down. He worked hard, and finally decided to be a teacher. His grandparents made it to his graduation, but his grandfather didn't last long after. His grandmother wasted away to nearly nothingness, and one day, during his first year of teaching, she died. She had been a ray of sunshine every day of her life, and again he felt that dark pit of something missing in his life. He remembered to think of the good things in her life, all the fun and happy and funny times they had shared like she taught him to do. He was caught up in thoughts of all the happy times he had shared with all the family members he had lost when an angel fell out of the sky and landed on him. Hard.  
  
Well, she fell out of a tree. And she wasn't an angel; she was simply the most beautiful woman in the world. She radiated an inner beauty as well, and never stopped smiling, even when her family disowned her for loving him. Nadeshiko taught Fujitaka many things about love and being happy in the midst of pain. She gave him two beautiful children and even in labor she would muster a reassuring smile over her shoulder as he massaged her through another contraction. Every shining moment they were together he knew he was the luckiest man in the world. She reassured him that the spirits of the dead were around when he needed them, and told him that his parents and grandparents were there when they were married and when Touya and Sakura arrived into this world. She reassured Touya with loving arms when he saw ghosts and taught him that he had nothing to fear from them while Fujitaka watched them with wonder at their strange gift.  
  
Then, when Sakura turned three and was the same age Touya was when he started seeing ghosts, Nadeshiko was too sick to help Sakura the same way. Nadeshiko was hospitalized and spent the last month of her life there as the cancer ate her from the inside. This time Fujitaka didn't know how he could handle losing yet another loved one. Nadeshiko smiled through her intense pain and talked him through his grief.  
  
"Fujitaka, my love, don't be sad."  
  
"I'm sorry Nadeshiko. It's so hard not to feel like it's not fair. I want to be strong for you, but I don't know how I can make it through this. I don't want to lose you." He wasn't crying, but his shoulders slumped in defeat and he turned to look out the window instead of seeing his beauty with tubes and needles invading her body.  
  
He heard the bedclothes rustle and turned to see her smiling at him as usual. "I promise I won't leave until I'm not needed. Touya will tell you when I'm there, and if you need to ask me a question he will tell you my answer. I promise. When I die I will no longer be in pain. If I could though I would endure it forever if I could be with you longer. I am the luckiest woman on earth to have you, and I want you to remember that. Every moment I have been granted with you makes up for every decade I have to spend without you. In the end, my love, I will be waiting to take you home where we will be together forever."  
  
"I don't know how you do it, but when you hurt so much and still smile I can't help myself. You have given me more reasons to smile than I could number."  
  
"I am glad. Please, don't cry for me. Be happy for me. Be happy for Touya and little Sakura. Be happy for yourself. There is a wonderfulness in you that you don't even know about, and it makes me happy to know I could touch that greatness."  
  
"I feel the same way about you. You are too wonderful for words. I am lucky to have known you, my beautiful Nadeshiko."  
  
Then, a week later, the last words she spoke to him were, "Promise me, you won't cry."  
  
He promised, and was true to his word.


	11. New Beginnings

Yue had a myriad of dreams and nightmares over the many years that passed. The passage of time escaped him in any real sense; there were periods of dream or periods of darkness, and that was it. The worst nightmares included finding a new master only to find that Clow was never really dead. Those chilled him on a personal level, feeding on his insecurities. In one nightmare he allowed a weak person to become the master of the cards and slowly faded to nothingness. In another the world came to an end because he allowed a corruptible master to have such power...but that was more Cerberus' fault, right? Cerberus chose someone worthy and Yue tested their strength, not their heart. Right? Yue just hoped that Cerberus wouldn't pick the first person that gave him sweets.  
  
And that's where the darkness between dreams usually hit him. Right after he decided again that there could be no other master of the cards. No matter how he thought about it, he came to that same conclusion and darkness overcame him. Finally his fitful sleep broke into an awareness of the approach of a critical juncture approaching and he left the confines of the Clow book to prepare.  
  
"Watery, Windy, it's almost time."  
  
His two element cards smiled up at him and nodded happily. Windy serenely agreed to stay awake and keep an eye on things. Watery had an evil glint in her eye and promised to stay close, no matter what. Watery and Yue had agreed, long ago, that no one could replace Clow Reed and they would keep a close eye on anyone who thought they could fill his shoes. He also trusted Watery to test the fledgling card master to the fullest. Windy just shook her head and planted a kiss on his forehead. She wished him well and smiled, assuring Watery that she'd wake her first before anything started.  
  
Then Yue left, putting the last touches on memories for his "imaginary friend" Tsukishiro Yukito. The spell he cast with the last of his free energy put all the details into place. A nearby house was empty and perfect for his designs. He would exert what influence he could to convince his false form that he had grandparents he was living with, but there would really be no one there.  
  
Then there was nothing left but to watch events from behind the eyes of his new persona.  
  


\----- 

Kinomoto Touya could feel his stomach shrinking. He had been in charge of lunches today because his father had a very early presentation to make, but Touya had overslept and had time to make only one quick lunch. His little sister, Sakura, had fixed breakfast...and it had been the smoke alarm that had woken him up. Sakura had ended up being the only one with any food until supper because Touya was so protective of her. She got the only lunch he had time to fix with a smile and a small lie about finding something else to eat. As she ran out the door he swore he would be teasing her about this for a year, at least.

That didn't help him concentrate on school as homeroom started. His stomach was caving in upon itself and he could still taste the few bites of burnt--whatever it was--that he had managed to choke down. He was so distracted, in fact, that he almost missed the introduction of the new kid. He did miss the boy's name, but the moment he opened his mouth to say hello to the class and teacher Touya was drawn in. It wasn't that the voice was remarkable at all, but his aura was very unusual. The boy with the smoke colored hair and golden eyes was directed to sit in the seat next to Touya. The strange boy just smiled an innocent smile and sat down silently with none of the jitters or nervousness a new student would usually show on their first day in the middle of the school year.

Touya realized he was staring when the boy turned yet again to smile at him. He decided to introduce himself in an undertone as a way to explain away his staring. "Hi, I'm Kinomoto Touya." He gave the other a slight half-smile and offered his hand.

Touya felt bathed in a pure white light as the other boy smiled bigger and bowed slightly. "Tsukishiro Yukito." He immediately turned back to pay attention to their teacher, but Touya was satisfied for now. This boy, Yukito, was still an enigma that drew his unfortunate hunger issue from his mind, but everything else could wait.

Except--for some reason it only felt like a few minutes had passed while he contemplated the new student before it was lunch time. Touya was startled to find that the tolling of the bell was the first herald to growls from his stomach. Had he been too distracted to even be hungry? Yesterday he'd have thought it was impossible. The only person he had met who ever had that effect on him had been Mizuki Kaho. But that had ended...yesterday? ...a year ago? It didn't matter.

He cut that thought off with a violent shake of his head and ran to the far side of the field to check on Sakura. He was confident that his little sister would be with Daidouji Tomoyo, and if the lunch he had packed wasn't enough, her best friend would be more than willing to share. He was used to checking up on her at lunch anyway because he felt an urge to make sure she was safe all the time. He'd know if she was in trouble, but it always calmed his mind to make sure and double check. Besides, she was a lot of fun to make fun of.

"Hey, monster!" he called, grinning a bit at the rise he got out of her.

"Who do you think you're calling a monster?!" Sakura's hands balled up into little fists and Tomoyo stood behind and giggled, winking. " **  
_I_  
** _am **NOT**  a monster_!"

"You only prove my point by shouting like that, monster." Sakura steamed, but was at a loss for words, so he went on to the "meat" of the conversation. "How's your lunch? Did I make enough for you?"

She did a total turn around and smiled her sunniest smile. "Yes! It was delicious! Thank you Touya, you're so good to me. How about you? How was your lunch?"

He hoped his stomach wouldn't growl as he lied. "It was lunch, nothing special. Anything would be delicious after the breakfast you made, monster." He realized that his sense of distraction had increased slightly, and while Sakura rained punches on him and yelled at him for being mean, Touya looked around. Yukito was looking right at him with a startled look, and then he smiled and nodded at Touya, conveying that he wouldn't be adverse to Touya coming over to join him. Touya nodded in return, scruffed up Sakura's hair and reminded her to come straight home after cheerleading practice was over.

"Kinomoto, I heard what you told your sister. You haven't had time to eat anything, right?"

Touya gave Yukito a guarded look and then nodded as his stomach finally betrayed him. "I overslept."

Yukito laughed, but for some reason Touya couldn't take offense. "I had a huge breakfast today, and my grandmother always gives me a huge lunch. I'm not as hungry as usual, so, would you like to share?" The smile was so genuine and honest that Touya found himself smiling back and accepting. They talked all through lunch, and Touya found himself opening up more to this boy than he had even to Kaho at first. He was just that easy to talk to. He invited Yukito over for an after school snack to make up for the lunch, and they agreed to study together so that the gaps from Yuki's old school would be filled smoothly.

It didn't take long to go from total strangers to best friends, and Touya found a constant fascination with the smaller boy that drove all thoughts of Mizuki Kaho from his mind for weeks at a time. At that point it was a miracle. Sakura started showing obvious signs of having a crush on Yuki too and after a while he realized that he was getting envious of all the attention Sakura was getting. Not protective of her as usually happened, but irritated with her for taking away his Yuki time. It was then that he realized he was falling in love with his best friend...and had been since the first time they met. He had no idea what to do, so he decided to take a page out of Tomoyo's book and just be happy for Yuki and glad to be a part of his life. For now.

\----- 

From England, Eriol looked up from the book he was reading and smiled up at his tutor, assistant, and best friend. "She opened the seal."

"Sakura-chan? I thought for sure Touya-kun would be the one."

Eriol shook his head and smiled up at her. His voice took on a deeper resonance as he spoke next. "Didn't I tell you about the visions I had before I died?" At the sweetly confused look on the young woman's face he laughed a little. "I guess not! It's so hard to keep track of what I've done and what I've seen myself do in advance sometimes. Not that it matters anymore. There's not a lot I'll be able to do over the next year. My power will be in constant flux. There will be good days--and there will be some bad days. Do you want to return now, or do you want to help me brush up on my Japanese some more?"

"You don't need any more help from me, but I'm content to stay here for a while longer. They won't need me 'till the end, and I might get in the way." She smiled, remembering one of the last things she said to Touya...that they would both love others, and they would become friends. She had a feeling that if she went back too soon she would make things harder on him than she would like. That, and she was falling in love also and wanted as much time as she could.

Eriol gave her a shrewd look, too aware of what she was thinking. He sighed and smiled. Part of him had a crush on her that wanted to ignore sense when dealing with her, and part of him was terrified that she was falling for Clow Reed, a dead man, and not himself. After this was all over, after he released half of his power and started aging again, then he would see. There wasn't much point in dwelling on it right now while he was still stuck in a child's body and couldn't do more than give moon-eyes at his teacher. "Maybe you can help Ruby try to understand Japanese culture a little bit better. She's almost American in her enthusiasm. There are those who would find that...rude."

Kaho and Eriol shared a laugh at that. "Do you think it would help?"

"Not a bit, but it would keep her feelings from getting hurt if she knew  _why_  people looked at her like she's some kind of nut. I need her to show her natural enthusiasm though. It's part of the plan."

"Ah. That would be the part of the plan I won't be part of?" Kaho's smile at that made his head feel floaty, but he was used to that effect. A moon guardian in his last life had tested his limits for dealing with that particular magic....

"Kaho, I do believe that some of this is actually going to be fun." His own smile set her heart thudding, but they both did their best to ignore the undercurrents of their relationship. There were too many other, more important things to sort out before they could sort out matters of the heart.

"It sounds like you'll have a lot of fun. For me it will be more like business as usual with some magic on the side. And to make up for that, I'm going to put you through some more business as usual. Math, my dear student, is your weak point. Shall we get busy?"

Eriol laughed a little ruefully. "I've just been busy with other things..."

"It shows. Now, I know you won't need calculus while you pretend to be as young as you look, but I want you to master it before I leave. That should be enough of a challenge for me to accomplish in the time given." Her smile was as innocent as always, but Eriol wasn't fooled. She could be just as evil as he was at times, and this was one of those times.

"I'm sure that with you teaching me, I'll understand it in no time and even learn to love it." He gritted his teeth and pulled out the necessary book.

"You had better," she laughed as she pulled out the corresponding teaching manual.


	12. Awakened Dreamer

Sakura's crush was as obvious to Yue as it was hidden to his more innocent half, Yukito. Yuki just thought she was cute and sweet and fun to be around. They were equals in happiness, enthusiasm, and innocence and left Yue rolling his eyes internally every time he allowed himself to become aware of it. He had more important things to think about, or so he thought at first. He was still checking in on the cards every day, waiting for the eminent juncture approaching to finally arrive. It would be the girl, Sakura, that he felt sure would open the book. The thought irritated him beyond measure. He hoped Cerberus would wake from his dead sleep in time to prevent her from actually scattering the cards, but he knew it was wishful thinking. All portents pointed to the cards being scattered across the town and wreaking havoc with the mortal lives that teemed in this place.

Yue scowled at the sheer irresponsibility of it all. He only hoped that Cerberus would talk to the girl about her family and appoint the older boy to clean up the mess. Touya was clearly the best choice for the task ahead, but Yue had a sinking sensation that Cerberus wouldn't do anything that required any real work and would let the girl stumble through it. Would Cerberus even teach the girl anything useful about the cards? She would get the obvious information and have to wing it from there if he knew his brother. That would not be enough to master the cards.

And yet, Yue couldn't bring himself to do anything about it. If Sakura didn't have what it took then he would return to the timeless sleep of the book and not have to deal with the emotional problems that would come with accepting someone in Clow's place. It was a selfish view, but the pain had returned as fresh as the day he was sealed when he awakened. It was overwhelming and it was all he could feel. If this was what existence meant after losing Clow then he didn't want any part of it for any longer than necessary.

Yukito sneezed in the middle of studying with Touya then grinned ruefully up at his best friend. A shiver and a shudder went up his spine, but outwardly he just shrugged it off.

"You okay, Yuki?" Touya looked up and smiled and Yukito forgot all about the sneeze.

"Hmmm? Sure, sure, I'm fine, To-ya." He returned the other boy's smile with one about ten times as bright, but no more meaningful. He knew that Touya didn't smile as often, so every smile he did get from his friend was equal to the biggest smile Yukito could muster. He liked returning those smiles, and secretly hoped that Touya appreciated it the same way.

Yue felt Yukito's thrill of sensation and had a feeling similar to having his skin crawl, but without a body. The physical sensations all had to be Yuki's, but Yue's emotions were all his own and did not taint his outer form. He tried to shove the feeling away as quickly as possible, not wanting his feelings tainted by the mask he wore. There were more important things to think about anyway. The cards had been released.  _That_  had been the reason for the sneeze and shudder. Well, to Yuki it felt like a sneeze and a shudder. To Yue it had felt more like an earthquake and hurricane at the same time. He realized that with all the drawbacks of being "trapped" inside what was essentially someone else, there were benefits as well.

Windy remained behind. That gave Yue enough energy to keep masking his presence while being aware of the outside world. He would have influence over Yukito also, and that would help him regain his power before Cerberus. Yue was prepared and had planned ahead. Cerberus had, as usual, just gone with the moment and not bothered thinking past where the next pudding would come from. Yue extended his awareness a bit further and felt the energy release when Cerberus chose her as the Card Captor. He almost groaned aloud, but caught himself at the last moment.

"Yuki...the cosine of…Yuki? Are you sure you're okay?" Touya was looking at Yukito with deep concern and...something else. It brought Yue out of his reverie and to the here and now--and Yukito blinked. Yukito felt like his best friend was looking through him, somehow into the depths of his secret self where all the darkest--wait. Yukito didn't have a darkest anything. He just smiled.

"Sorry To-ya. I was distracted." Distracted? Well, yes, but he couldn't remember what he was thinking of. Those piercing eyes had stopped him cold and driven all thought from his mind. Then the thought popped into his mind from nowhere. Strawberries and sakura blossoms. "Want a snack? Grandmother bought strawberries earlier before her and Grandfather went back out, so they will be nice and fresh. I think she was planning on making strawberry shortcake, but I'm sure she won't mind."

Touya's eyes narrowed for a moment, but then he smiled. "You and your stomach." He chuckled. "Come on, if you don't eat your weight in strawberries you'll be too distracted to study all afternoon and we'll never pass that test."

Yukito jumped up to get the strawberries and grinned like a maniac. His To-ya had chuckled at him. Better than that, To-ya wasn't looking at him funny anymore...no, he didn't want to think about that. He made To-ya laugh, and that's all that mattered. Yue withdrew with a sigh and hid from the world, planning his next move in a part of his mind that Yukito would never look.

\-----

"It felt like one of the ghosts, but at the same time not. It just held the penguin and trainer underwater. I don't know what it was, but I could grab onto it and pull it apart. I'm not sure how, but it was lucky I did."

"Wow! It's a good thing you were there then. You got to be the knight in shining armor for someone other than Sakura for a change." Yukito enjoyed teasing Touya and just laughed at the glare his best friend shot him. They walked up to Touya's house and Yukito busied himself with taking off his shoes.

The conversation had caught Yue's attention without doubt. It was obviously the Watery card, staying close like they had agreed. Yue chewed on his lower lip, wondering if he was putting the little girl up against such a challenge too soon, but then he shook his head. If it were too much then she had no business trying to be his Mistress and he would just be able to Cerberus a huge 'I told you so' when they were sucked back into the book.

Of course the problem with that plan, he realized, was that if she  _couldn't_  collect the cards they would never agree to go back to the book, and without Watery being "captured", Yue wouldn't have the power to enforce bringing them all back.

Wait. He realized he wouldn't have the power to bring any of them back even if Sakura had both of his cards. They were truly free and wild right now, and he couldn't control any of them any more than Cerberus could. He would have to push Yukito into helping her if she got in over her head.

The sooner the cards were collected, the sooner he could prove she wasn't worthy and head back to the book and the darkness that swallowed so much time. Yue contorted Yukito's face into a scowl that would have stunned Touya and made Sakura scream in terror. He didn't like this train of thoughts. If Cerberus chose a Card Captor that needed  _help_  to collect the cards she scattered then it was obvious Yue would have to judge her unworthy.

"Hey, what are you doing? Hurry up and get in here!"

The call from Touya brought him out of his introspection with a start. Yukito thought again about that poor penguin and the close call before setting the thought aside to walk into the room. "Sorry, sorry! I was taking my shoes off and took longer than I realized." The smile slipped on like an old friend, erasing awareness of the scowl that had been there moments ago. Yue slipped from the foreground of Yukito's mind, but he was now resolved to be aware of what was going on. He needed to pay attention to how she obtained the cards.

\-----

One after the other, each card was brought back, but it was obvious that Sakura couldn't handle the cards on her own. The blushing boy from the Li clan enabled Yue to stop pushing her in the right direction so often, but that was just another point against her. She had, in fact, nearly given up on capturing the dangerous Watery card when Yue stepped in and all but dragged her to the aquarium where Watery had holed up and practically shouted the clue she needed. What would allow her to contain a liquid form? Turn the liquid into a solid, of course. There had been many things on the menu that Yukito would have happily devoured there, but Yue pushed with all his strength to get Yukito to pick a frozen treat.

Using that strength brought other problems though. The Watery could feel him, and she banged on the glass a few times to get his attention. He ignored her and she became enraged. Watery had always been a jealous card, and she shattered the glass and attacked the girl that had stolen the Guardian's attention--Sakura, the Card Captor herself. It was a combination of Yukito and Yue that jumped up and knew exactly what to do to get the water to drain somewhere else, and Yue was sure at any moment Touya would feel the change and end the deception. Watery masked his aura with her own though, and when Sakura thanked them with moony eyes Yukito looked confused and Yue wanted to glare and say, "Of course."

A while later Yue was dreaming of the past and Yukito was walking when Sakura literally fell out of the sky into his arms. Yue groaned, knowing that it was one of the cards he ruled that had almost done the girl in as she fell off the cliff. He couldn't explain how she was floating down so gently though. The Float card was still dormant, and this felt like a different kind of energy. When Sakura woke up they talked for a bit, and then she said something about her mother being at the top of the cliff.

That was the clue Yue needed to help her, but Yukito found the words to help her first. "If it is your mother, would she really try to hurt you?" It was something Yue couldn’t have put into words himself. When his own creator had died he had hurt him and Cerberus too much, and that pain was too fresh for Yue to deal with. He was glad that Sakura went back to sleep soon after that because Yukito wouldn't have been able to explain the tears he felt slipping down his face while he waited for Touya to pick up his sister. The Illusion card was captured the next day, and soon after that Li Syaoran appeared and set Sakura on her toes about getting the cards--before her rival could. When Yue noticed young Syaoran's crush Yukito though he almost went into hysterics. Did *everybody* fall for him? How long would Yukito stand oblivious to all the attention? That led to more brooding though. Yue could think of many reasons why everybody would love Yukito, but the sinking sensation that filled him gave only one reason. The attraction of the moon magic. The speed at which they all fell for him told Yue that the lovable Yukito was being loved only because he contained Yue and the magic of the moon.

The deepest wound was when he realized that this would have to apply to Touya too. Yue withdrew into himself, trying to deny somehow that Touya would succumb to purely magical charm. Okay, the withdrawn introspection coincided with rehearsals for a play where Yukito had agreed to play a can of mackerel, but that wasn't the *reason* for his withdrawal. It was a happy coincidence, in Yue's opinion, that he wouldn't have to subject himself to such an indignity. He brooded long and hard, with eternal-seeming circular logic until the day of the play. He allowed himself a few moments to revel in the freedom of action when Yukito decided to go against the basketball team for plushies for Sakura and her friends, but then he felt guilty and lost himself in the need to brood just a few more hours. Just a few more hours, please, until that damnable play was finally over....

Yukito smiled that evening as Sakura dashed ahead, eager to start supper since he had agreed to join them. She would hang back and talk excitedly for a few moments, and then skip happily ahead again as Touya scowled. "So, To-ya, what did Yoko want to talk to you about?"

Touya's back stiffened, but then he smiled a little. "She wanted to date me." The words were quiet, sad, and bemused.

Yukito felt a stab through his heart, but didn't show anything on the outside. "She's a sweet girl. You two have been working very close, and she's popular, and pretty." His grin grew huge. "You two would make a cute couple, but you said no, didn't you?"

Touya nodded. "I don't love her. She's nice enough, but--" He cut himself off with a shrug.

Sakura drifted back to them and Touya flashed a bit of irritation at her. "Big brother, how in the world did they get you to wear a dress on stage?"

Touya glared at Yukito, "I've been wondering that myself, Yuki."

He just laughed. "Don't look at me! I just said I've never been in a play before and it looked like a lot of fun. I had no idea that the girls would gang up on us like that!" Yukito did a wonderful job of looking innocent while Sakura laughed at Touya's expense. He leaned over conspiratorially to Sakura with a glint in his eye. "He did look very becoming as a princess though, didn't he?"

Touya ignored the wink Yukito sent his way and glared at Sakura. "Before you answer that, monster, I want you to think long and hard about who is fixing your lunches all next week. It might be me, but there are no guarantees."

Sakura just laughed and raced ahead. "I'm going to run and get supper started, see you two in a bit!"

Yukito giggled and waved, but Touya just shook his head. "You just  _had_  to invite her, didn't you Yuki?"

"Of course!"

Touya looked serious for a minute and something inside Yukito tensed. "Yuki, I--" he faltered, shook his head, and then smiled at the shorter boy. "I had a lot of fun today, even if I will never live this down."

"So did I, To-ya." The smile was ever-present, but turned a little self-depreciating. "At least you weren't a magic can of mackerel. I'd say we're about equal, right?"

Touya agreed and they arrived at the Kinomoto house. The food was good, the company was good, and Yue finally realized something. Touya was well aware that the magic was there, and he had been about to admit his feelings, but he stopped. Touya wanted to know Yukito better before deciding to say anything. He didn't let himself become awed or tongue-tied. He didn't give in to any emotions without thought. He accepted Yukito for what he was, or at least what he could know now. Yue knew that he could dazzle the boy with his magic at any moment and make him lose that judgment, but Touya seemed to be the only one that saw the point in treating Yukito like another person instead of placing him on a pedestal. Yue dropped his angsty introspection and watched the world go by again.

\-----

Summer went by, then autumn, and finally winter arrived. Sakura got a new teacher who radiated moon magic and Yue didn't hesitate to use her to mask his presence from the increasingly perceptive girl. His brooding increased as time went by. Touya and Yukito grew closer and closer together, and Yue was haunted by images of the past. How long had Yue and Clow been together, wishing the other would say something or do something to let the other off the hook? Centuries? And here it was, being played out all over again but with Yue staring out the eyes of the one that accepted it with a smile and shrug. It was maddening to see the boys put themselves through the guessing game and hesitation that had been Yue's existence for so long. It was worse to be along for the ride and not be able to do or say a thing. He felt disloyal to Clow, he felt lonely, and he wallowed in regret.

The day that drove Yue to the deepest loneliness and sorrow was the day of the Tomoeda town's contest. It was a week before Yukito's birthday, December 25, and Yukito had decided to enter the contest with Sakura. While they were waiting for the first question and listening to the rules, a friend of Sakura's had mentioned an old riddle and Yue recognized it right away. It had been one of Clow's favorite riddles, the riddle of the Sphinx, and the first riddle Yue had ever solved. It had taken Yue weeks to figure it out on his own, and after that Clow and Yue had exchanged riddles on a regular basis. He became more and more adept at "thinking outside the box" as the term became known later.

The entire contest was filled with riddles and each one filled Yue with a thrill of excitement and a pang of grief. In short order they reached the location of the final riddle and Sakura's teacher, Mizuki Kaho, met them. Sakura had to figure out the last riddle on her own and Kaho pulled Yukito aside. Yukito happily talked to her, responding to her simple questions, but Yue wasn't fooled. She could feel the difference in him, and was about to "call him out". Yue wished he could somehow stop her, tell her to be quiet, to just not say a word. He had grown so happy with having Yukito as a shield, a mask, and a constant companion. He just didn't want Yukito to know. Not yet, and hopefully not ever.

And, thankfully, Sakura solved the question and Yue simply erased worry about what Kaho might have said.  _Don't think about it, don't ask her what she was about to ask, just go and finish the contest and forget all about the strange looks people sometimes shoot your way...._  It was easy enough to control Yukito like that on the full moon. He and Sakura rushed to the park to get the plaque to bring back for their prizes.

The forested part of the park was already getting dark and the full moon seemed to make the crisp winter air sparkle with energy. The trees whispered slightly of secrets that most people would never hear, and Yue felt the spirits of the dead surround them and bask in the invisible glow of their magic. Sakura wandered over to a ledge where the tree cover broke and basked in the moonlight while Yukito looked for the plaque. Yue couldn't blame her a bit and decided to make Yukito go up on the roof to moon gaze that night with a bout of insomnia. His fingers closed around the plaque as a sound behind him brought time to a standstill. Forgetting the plaque he dove after Sakura as she fell. His arms wrapped around her and his leg banged into a sharp jutting rock on the way down, but he managed to protect her and roll with the fall as he hit the bottom.

"Sakura?"

She was out cold and didn't seem like she was about to wake up any time soon. Yukito took off his jacket and draped it over her still form. His leg throbbed and he wasn't sure if he'd be able to support his weight with it. He sighed and slumped against the sharp incline, gazing at the moon as the sun sunk lower and lower in the sky behind them. He realized then that he had forgotten to grab the plaque, and the last thing he wanted was to force Sakura to climb back up to get something he had had in his grasp moments before. Especially when he could tell he'd need her support when she woke up just to walk back.

Yue fashioned a memory of grabbing the plaque before Sakura fell, then did something he wouldn't have dreamed he would ever do. He emerged before the Judgment, letting his energy out for everybody to feel. Sakura slept on innocently, but he could feel it as every other magical being tried to home in on his energy and identify it. Defiantly, he sent a wave of concern for the girl outward, letting them know that things were not well, but under control...and hid his identity behind their concern. Mizuki Kaho was the only one not fooled, but there wasn't a thing she could do without blowing her own cover. Yue couldn't figure out what secret she carried, but it was important enough that there were some things she just could not interfere with.

He retrieved the plaque easily, never needing to put weight on his injured leg. He then settled down a few short feet away from the child and watched her sleep under the moonlight. He stared at her with solemn eyes and thought about all the time he had been watching her out of Yukito's eyes. He didn't realize at first that he spoke out loud, but it didn't matter. She was too fast asleep to hear him, and these things needed to be said before he would meet her officially.

"When you see me, you'll probably think I'm being unfair. I don't know what you'll think of me, but that part of me that is Yukito really does care. I won't let that stop me though, and you shouldn't either.

"I'm sure you will though.

"I have already judged you unworthy. The test will be a mere formality. I'm supposed to be fair, but Cerberus was also supposed to pick someone who could handle the duties and responsibilities of mastering the Cards. I think we have both failed in that, so I don't feel too bad. And then I will give you a gift.

"I will erase your greatest love from your memory. It will be a gift to everyone involved. You don't know how much love can hurt you. Facing enemies and being beaten down with physical or magical blows never hurt me as much as each time someone I loved died, and I will be able to spare you from that.

"Syaoran will be able to forget about the crush he has on you now and return to his Meilin without conflict. You and Touya will forget all about Yukito and that will be a good thing. Tomoyo will stop torturing herself over you and how you ignore her love. It's a love everyone knows will never be returned, and she will finally be free from the shackles you placed upon your best friend. Your father will be free to some day find someone else. Kaho will stop chasing after little boys. And finally, I will be able to sleep in peace again. I don't know if I'll forget about my Master, Clow, but I'll be able to stop torturing myself over--"

He broke off, realizing what he had been about to admit. He couldn't do that, because he'd be betraying the memory of his beloved one. How could he entertain the notion that he would ever love someone more than Clow? He wrapped his arms around his knees and tried to become one with the chill air around him. If only he could be as cold and distant as others always saw him he wouldn't be in so much pain! With a deep sigh he allowed himself to fade back into Yukito where he could vicariously feel happiness so much.

"Yukito-san?"

She must have woken up right after the transformation. Yukito smiled down at her with care and joy, reassuring her when she cried over his injury.

Yue wondered how Yukito could be so utterly happy around her when all Yue could feel was pain at her smiling and cheerful face.

\-----

Finally, on Yukito's birthday, Sakura captured the card that gave Yukito some true privacy at last. The Fiery card was one of the elemental cards that would give Cerberus the power to seek Yue out if he wasn't cautious enough. The sparkling glitter that enchanted everyone while Yukito and Sakura rode the Ferris Wheel made Yue realize that Cerberus would be able to use other of his powers. Yue decided he had seen enough and didn't need to interfere so much. He would stand before her as the Judge soon enough, for there weren't many cards left for her to attain. Then they would all be able to forget that which would cause them the most pain--their greatest love.


	13. Judgment

Yukito was still glowing inside about winning the archery competition as he wandered around with Sakura and her friends. He felt that there was something positively magical about this day and the air was charged with an energy he could almost taste. The full moon usually did this to him anyway, but today there was somehow more to it.

And then an earthquake hit. He tried his hardest to help Sakura and Tomoyo get to safety. Syaoran pulled Sakura away, the earth opened up, and he thought he saw a small fairy of some sort sprinkling dust. As the dust hit him for some reason a calm voice in his head told him to sleep...and he did.

\-----

Kaho knew that this was the Earthy card, the last card Sakura had left to get. She stood aside, letting her magic surround her and protect her with gentle stability. This was it, and her reason for returning was about to be fulfilled. She watched as Sakura put everyone to sleep, shrugging off the effect herself with ease. She was almost surprised to see Yukito succumb after finally penetrating the nature of his magic disguise, but the Judgment Maker must have reasons of his own. She smiled and waited for the answers to come. After all, this wasn't her puzzle to solve; she was here for one reason. To give a young child a second chance if her love was strong enough.

She calmly watched over Yukito, Tomoyo, and Syaoran while Sakura flew around, searching for the answer to this puzzle. Kaho had confidence in the girl though. Sakura couldn't have caught the rest of the cards, even with help, without the ability to figure out how to deal with the magic she faced.

The smile never left her face as she saw Sakura finally figure out what card would help. Tendrils shot out from the Wood card, wrapping and securing the powerful and destructive card. When it was over everything returned to normal and Kaho just stood aside to wait. It was all going just like Eriol told her it might be.

\-----

As soon as they were safe and Tomoyo was able to help pull Yukito to a bench to sleep on, her video camera was out and running. The columns of earth shooting out of the ground and the giant cracks in the street along with a beautifully colorful sunset made a perfect backdrop for filming Sakura as she flew around, battling this latest card. For a moment she was able to film Syaoran as he gazed at Sakura's daring feat. There was a look of adoration and admiration on his face that Tomoyo knew some day Sakura would appreciate better and she was glad she was there to film it.

Sakura disappeared behind buildings a few times and Tomoyo just waited patiently. Then adorable little wings on Sakura's heels replaced the huge wings of the Fly card on her staff as she bounced past. Tomoyo always thought about watching people jumping on the moon when her best friend used the Jump card. It looked so graceful and effortless to leap so many meters at a time.

"My only regret is that there was no time to give her a battle costume," Tomoyo said with a sigh.

She smiled as she heard Syaoran groan behind her, but she couldn't stop a moment. The grand finale was coming up and she wouldn't miss this for the world. She saw the huge column with a head and spikes moving around, and then suddenly it was wrapped in what looked like, to Tomoyo's experienced eye, the Wood card. Suddenly it shimmered and was gone in a swirl of magic. Tomoyo sighed happily and put the camera away.

\-----

Syaoran had been so wrapped up in watching Sakura at work that Miss Mizuki had come up behind him  _again_  without him noticing. "That was the last card," she said, making him jump.

"Yes," he agreed tersely, cursing inwardly at his slip.  _How does she keep getting so close???_

He anticipated Tomoyo's cry of dismay and turned around to watch her as she cried out as if hurt.

"On no! That means she won't be able to use the battle costume I have for her. It's so cute because it's just like a doll I gave her last year."

Miss Mizuki bowed down toward Tomoyo with her customary smile, almost exuding cheer and radiating a calm that infected Tomoyo with the cheerful smile. Syaoran scowled. "Don't worry, if you can get your costume here for her soon there will still be a chance for her to wear it. The day is not over yet."

Syaoran felt his eyebrows grow closer together as he tried to figure out what the strange teacher meant. The first thing he thought of was that Sakura still had to put her name on the card. And, they were still out and about, so they could celebrate their victory a bit. Still, there was something else bothering him, something else he knew he should be thinking about, but the presence of Miss Mizuki kept distracting him from the thought that was in the back of his mind.

And then Tomoyo had a brilliant idea. "Syaoran! We should get your ceremonial garb too! That would be perfect; to film you and Sakura together, all dressed up for magic and celebrating together. This will be so wonderful!"

He sighed and went along with the inevitable.

\-----

Cerberus, or Kero-chan as of late, was happy to be in his full form at last, but apprehensive as well. A lot was riding on what would happen as soon as Sakura put her name on the last card. He hadn't been able to help Sakura as much as he was supposed to. He realized that the magic had not only locked away his true form, but many of his memories as well. He would never admit it, but there were things he knew he should have told Sakura that he never would have the chance to explain now. She was about to face a trial by fire.

He took stock of himself, realizing that he wasn't afraid. The brat from the Li clan would have to be put to the test as well, but that was hardly an issue. Sakura had everything she needed to convince Yue that she would be a good mistress. Most importantly, she had a strong and loving heart. Kero almost smiled about that as he stood next to Miss Mizuki, waiting for Sakura and the brat to finish getting changed.

He glanced at the teacher out of the corner of his eye, wondering about her and doubting his senses. She was choked with moon magic, it came off of her in ripples that clearly had an effect on Sakura, but as he stood there waiting he second-guessed himself. Was she the false form, the mask of the Judgment Maker? Something wasn't right about his assumption, but she was the only one he could see that was anywhere near--

The van opened and Sakura stepped out at last. Tomoyo poured her heart out about how utterly cute Sakura was and how wonderful it was that everything was finally at an end.

Cerberus just waited patiently.

The brat stepped out and displayed the ceremonial garb that Cerberus remembered Li Chang displaying so proudly on the day of Clow Reed created Yue, the four element cards, and himself. Everything was working toward a peak again, and symbols were repeating themselves.  _Aaah, but this time the head of the Li clan and I are the ones who are fiercely loyal to the budding sorceress while Yue is the challenger. Will I be the adversary next time? Does there have to be a next time?_

The thoughts played themselves out in his mind, one strand interweaving with another, and then he watched carefully as Tomoyo ceremonially filmed the signing of the last card.

The teacher then gathered her will as magic charged the air with power. "This is the Final Judgment," she said. Kero kept looking at her expectantly, but then realized that she wouldn't be changing. It was the Snow Rabbit guy that began to glow with the ghostly aura he knew so well from the past.

Yukito transformed into Yue and Kero knew that things were going to be much more challenging for Sakura than he originally assumed. Still, his faith was unwavering.

\-----

Yue awoke, feeling the full magic of the Judgment at hand. The world glowed and sparkled with the energy, but the beauty of it was a cold comfort for the task ahead. The air around him picked up, whispering that all would be fine, but he had long ago learned to disregard those sorts of whisperings. The winds had tried to comfort him when Clow died too, but that winter day still stabbed his memories like a knife.

The tears in Sakura's eyes shimmered in the moon's glow; tears shed for finding out the truth about her friend. Yue's heart constricted as she stammered, "This…is Yue…then where's Yukito?" She looked panicked. All the more reason to get this done with.

"Tsukishiro  _was_  Yue," Mizuki Kaho answered, allowing Yue a few more moments to adjust to being in the world without wearing a false face.

Yue just took everything in, looking at them all with his own eyes and drinking in their reactions. Mizuki was concerned but not a bit surprised while the children were completely lost. Sakura looked horrified and terrified by what she was facing...or was it  _who_  she was facing? Well, she had a reason to be scared. He was more powerful than she would be able to handle, and he was about to change her world. Then there was Cerberus, who looked somehow sheepish. Of course. He hadn't recognized his own "brother".

"It's been a while, Cerberus." Yue's words seemed calm and a simple greeting, but Cerberus knew from centuries of experience that Yue never wasted words or expressions. He was subtly ribbing his brother for not being able to catch him out. But, there was a hint of kindness to it as well.

Still, Cerberus defended himself in his usual wordy manner, over explaining every aspect of the situation. Yue let Cerberus babble as long as he needed. It was almost like old times when he got caught sneaking pudding in the middle of the night and explained for half an hour or more about why it was his right or duty or whatever to eat the pudding. This time though there were others who could benefit from the babbling. Yue was sure that Cerberus hadn't explained nearly enough to the children about to face Judgment.

"Wait a minute!" Sakura was even more in a panic now. "I don't understand! What  _is_  all of this?"

"I'm the same as Cerberus...without enough magic I can not regain my true form." He gave the children time to digest this information and remark on it. Then he lowered himself closer to Sakura's level, examining her closely.  _This_  was the one who sought to replace his beloved Master, he reminded himself. He grasped her chin, bringing the fullness of his aura crashing over her for the first time. "This is the first time we're meeting while I'm in my true form; candidate chosen by Cerberus the Appointer to be Mistress of the Clow Cards." He gazed deep into her eyes, searching her soul to see if she could possibly be ready for this.

"Yukito," she whispered, still in shock. This was not a good sign for her.

Very well, there were other issues to deal with. "There is another who has also obtained the Clow Cards." He looked at the young boy, knowing in that instant that this was the descendant of Li Kazumi and Clow Reed. A direct descendant. Li Syaoran snapped into a battle pose after a moment of surprise.

Yue looked for a way to stop this before it began. He didn't have the heart for what was to come, for tearing down the dreams of little children. "Unable to gather all the Clow Cards by one person, the Last Judgment is meaningless." Cerberus would have to agree, and none of this would be necessary.

"No, that's not true." Cerberus surprised Yue by speaking out. "I believe Sakura can handle anything."

_ You would force my hand, make me fight against little kids, and then shatter their dreams all because you think this little girl is sweet? Do you want a new master so bad that you'll let me hurt children? So be it. _  "You are overly optimistic as usual," Yue said aloud with wry amusement.

"And you are bad tempered, as usual." Cerberus was serious.

Yue took in the terror in Sakura's eyes, the weakness in her heart, and pulled back his emotions. If Cerberus vouched for her he had to conduct the Last Judgment. Damn Clow and all his tricks, damn Clow for putting him in this position! He would do his best though, and he almost looked forward to her losing. He would have no choice but to cast the spell. He would erase that feeling of love from all involved, including himself. A deep part of him wondered who he would really forget, the Master, or someone else? Resolved, he set the thought aside as irrelevant.

"Then, shall we begin the Last Judgment."

\-----

Syaoran's thoughts were running at a frantic pace. He only half heard Sakura trying to grasp everything that had happened so fast, but he was trying to remember all the magic he had ever been taught. Memories whirled by so fast though that he couldn't grab all that he needed. He felt ill prepared for the task ahead even with his entire life being dedicated to triumphing at this moment.

"First," he heard Yue utter, and his mind went still. He was suddenly a helpless observer as his body floated to a rooftop. He easily kept his balance when he was released, but that was only to be expected. "I, Yue the Judge, shall conduct the Last Judgment." Syaoran felt the shift in the magical currents immediately and braced for it. As Yue spoke his last directive, "With all the Clow Cards you have, defeat me," a glow appeared above Yue's hand. From that glow came a barrage of ice spears directed right at Syaoran.

Syaoran tumbled gracelessly out of the line of fire, unable for a moment to counterattack. When he regained his footing he found that he was no longer in the line of fire. With a single fire spell the vision of perfection that was Yue was engulfed. Syaoran could hardly believe that he had won so easily! "Did that work?"

When the fire cleared however, Yue was untouched. Syaoran brought out a wind spell next, relying on the family magic that came so naturally to him. These spells had served him so well for years, but Yue looked almost bored. "Useless," he heard the moon guardian admonish. Then Yue appeared directly before him and threw Syaoran about with pure energy. Syaoran had never felt anything like it before. The ice attack began anew and Syaoran barely blocked the direct hit with the force of his chi alone. He pulled himself up carefully, deciding finally upon which Clow Card to use. Ignoring Yue's taunts, he pulled out a card. His most powerful one.

"Time!"

He was sure now that he'd have the upper hand. Syaoran stood, looking at where his opponent would be frozen and helpless.

Yue wasn't there.

Syaoran looked around in confusion. Then the presence of the moon guardian was behind him, and that soft voice taunted him a final time. "Time is a card that serves under me."

The startled realization froze on Syaoran's face as he felt control of the card pass from him. He had lost. Syaoran was frozen by the card that had served him the longest, and he heard the Judgment Maker's last statement as if from a distance. "This is the end."

As Syaoran was released the cry of denial escaped his lips, then he was dumped on the ground before Sakura. Drained and beaten, he let himself fall. The moment he had been trained for his entire life had passed and he had not come out on top. Still,  _someone_  had to stop the disaster from befalling. He pulled on reserves of energy he didn't know he had to stand and warn Sakura. "All of my cards were taken. Be careful, he is very powerful."

\-----

Touya watched everything from the shadows. His best friend had been revealed for what he was, and the being within wasn't at all what Touya had expected. The warm and happy youth that was his best friend had been replaced by something beautiful but cold. This new person stood, er, floated with an assurance brought about by long experience. The power fairly crackled in the air around him, and Touya was stunned by it all. He wondered what this meant, but he had a building suspicion that the reason Sakura didn't want to tell anyone about the magic was because she didn't want anyone to worry. He was seeing for himself that there was a lot to worry about.

Still, he trusted Sakura. She was young, but he couldn't deny that she was getting a lot more powerful lately. He wished she'd tell him about all this though so that he could keep a closer eye on her, but he had to admit that she was doing well without him.

Still, watching that Chinese brat get knocked around so easily by the angelic being gave him second thoughts about the situation. The huge winged lion creature that had the same presence to him as Sakura's stuffed animal had to tell Sakura that she couldn't help the brat in his confrontation. Touya had to assume that when Sakura faced Yukito's other form the rules would be the same. There was nothing Touya would be able to do here but watch.

So he watched as his best friend in a stranger's guise threw around his sister's rival with what looked to be no effort at all. The pseudoangel looked almost bored from Touya's vantage. It was no challenge at all, and when he was done the little boy was dropped from about six inches up before Sakura.

Yet...the boy didn't really look damaged, just wiped out. He recovered quickly from the ordeal and was standing on his own power when Sakura suddenly went stiff and floated toward her adversary. Syaoran, the Chinese brat, had been defeated but not truly harmed. That gave Touya some comfort. The idea of Yukito hurting anyone didn't sit well with Touya, so he had to trust that this person was not attacking for fun. It seemed more like a test.

Touya watched as Sakura refused to fight, wincing inwardly. The easiest way to fail a test was to not take it. He almost expected the attack against her when it came, but that didn't stop Touya from jumping and nearly crying out.

"Don't worry, Touya. It will all be okay." The voice was soft, sweet, and the only voice that could possibly reassure him in this case.

"Mom?"

Kinomoto Nadeshiko's ghost appeared before him, smiling with kindness. "She's safe, no real harm will come to her. You know that as well as I do."

"I--I don't know. Yuki would never hurt Sakura, but...that's not Yuki out there. I don't know what that is."

"Would Yukito be your best friend if any part of him would put the sister you are so protective of in real danger? Trust your feelings. You know better."

Touya smiled, nodding. He trusted Yuki with his life...he trusted Yuki with his sister's life. He had a feeling that though this other being was different, he could be trusted just as much. Otherwise he would never have trusted Yuki in the first place. His own magic told him that much.

He watched the rest dispassionately. Sakura finally fought back after realizing that flying away wouldn't do any good. Touya really couldn't blame her. He tried to imagine fighting Yukito like that; defeating him in a battle of magic...then he tried putting the strange angelic creature in Yuki's place in the same battle. He didn't like the thought. It was hard for Sakura, who had a crush on Yuki. If he asked himself honestly--would he fare any better?

Yuki's other self drew a shimmering bow of pure energy and as Sakura's attack reached him the magic arrow flew at her feet. Her magic was reflected and she became trapped instead. She struggled to fight back, but in the end she was completely entangled and Touya felt high magic being cast over everything. He wondered what this would mean as the world somehow blurred.

\-----

"Only Clow Reed could defeat me." It was a statement of fact. It was the way he was created, and for some reason Yue didn't want Sakura to feel too bad about being defeated like this. He wrapped Sakura with care in the tendrils of wood surrounding her, and then gathered the magic of the Judgment into the creation of the spell.

It had taken Sakura and was almost complete when a bell sounded and nearly broke his concentration. The bell resonated with moon magic of its own, working itself into the spell and weakening it.

_ That won't be enough, moon priestess. _  His thoughts went directly to the bearer of the bell.

_ By itself? Of course not. That's not the point, moon guardian. But Sakura deserves a second chance. _

Yue's eyes locked with Kaho's for a moment.  _By helping her, you negate the Judgment._

_ That is why I'm supposed to tell you that this is Clow Reed's will. He made this bell for a reason, and it was entrusted to me for that reason. I know you can tell that his magic has been stored here. _  Kaho smiled just a little, and then turned her gaze back to where Sakura was cocooned.

She was right, and he felt compelled to grant Sakura the second chance offered. He had never expected to be facing children like this.  _She still has to find the strength herself to break the spell._  He doubted that she could do it...so it was with great surprise that he watched Sakura burst out of the nest of wood branches surrounding her. The Judgment would begin anew.

Yue waited as the teacher explained what was happening. Sakura finally admitted that living in a world without loving the people who you should love most was too cruel, and renewed her resolve to win. Sakura's cheerful confidence that followed would have made him smile at any other time, but this was too serious. He simply watched, waiting for her to truly defeat him. If she could.

And the staff began to change.

Streams of light were emitted from the staff, and when Sakura raised it to the sky the heavens rained down light as the magic changed form. It was as if the stars wept with joy to see her face such adversity with such spirit. Yue's confidence was severely shaken. He had never seen anything like this before. He wondered if this was a sign that he would have to open his heart to this slip of a child and be around her and her family the rest of her life. The thought both stabbed through his heart and warmed him.

But then she called upon the Windy card and he knew that she had lost.

"Windy is also a card that serves under me," he admonished, regaining his composure. He flicked the magical energy that would stop Windy in her tracks and turn her back upon the inexperienced girl. He was ready for this whole fiasco to be done with. Maybe this time Touya  _would_  be picked to find the cards. He would ask Cerberus about the possibility.

Windy was still rushing toward him.

_ That's not right, _  he thought as he bent the magic to his will, harder this time.

Windy was almost on top of him and showed no signs of slowing.

_ What the...? _

Windy was happier than he had ever seen her as she looked into his face, smiled, and dissipated her form to grasp him by the wrists and ankles. Soon she had trapped him in a constricting sphere where he was forced to kneel. Sakura had mastered the magic more than even Clow had been able to. It was impossible! But...it had just happened.

The girl had won.

Using his own magic against him, she had won.

When Windy released Yue his shoulders slumped in defeat. He remained kneeling before the girl, beaten. This was his fate, and he would have to accept it.

Yet--Sakura took him by the hands, smiling, and his heart began to melt. She reassured him, showed compassion, and offered him her friendship. Then he knew that the magic was the least of the Judgment. She really was worthy of being Clow's successor. With great formality he ended the Judgment, accepting whatever fate would bring.

\-----

Hiiragizawa Eriol replaced the phone on its cradle, smiling with a feeling of elation and nervous anticipation. "Ruby Moon, Spinel Sun, it's time. Are you ready to go to Tomoeda?"

Ruby jumped up and down with enthusiasm. "No more fainting spells? No more days in bed? We're finally ready for the big part of the plan?"

"That's right. The cards are no longer connected to me at all. They can't draw on the power of Clow Reed." Eriol smiled with relief.

"Still," Spinel began softly, "we're not done yet. Just because your strength has returned doesn't mean everything will be fine."

Ruby bounced over and cocked a finger at him. "Don't be such a party pooper! Sure, we've got a lot of work to do, but this will be the  _fun_  part of the work!" Her bouncing brought her back to Eriol. "And, I really might find love? Really?"

"Possibly," he said with a smile. "I'm not very good--have never been very good--at discerning matters of the heart."

"Don't worry! Possibly is all I need. I'm so happy and fun to be with and...what's that Japanese word...genki? Yes! How could anybody not love me? This will be fun!"

"Oh boy. We're leaving tomorrow and she still has to ask if 'genki' is the right word. Eriol, are you sure about this?"

"Sure or not, this is the way it must be done."

Ruby stuck a tongue out at them both, then smiled. "I need to pack! And then, as soon as we get there, I'm going shopping! This will be absolutely wonderful! I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait!"

Eriol smiled. He knew that there would be a lot of hard work ahead, but he was sure Ruby was right. It was also going to be a lot of fun.


	14. Trials

Clow Reed looked around in confusion. He had been out for a walk to enjoy the lovely spring day, when he felt something strange. He felt magic, very similar to his own, but it was also very different. It was card magic, it was one of his own cards, but it was the Return card. It didn't take much to realize that he had a visitor from the future. This could be touchy. He would have to help his successor any way he could, but it was tricky to meddle with the flow of time. If he said the wrong thing he could negate the good effects whatever he said would give.

He quietly turned the corner and smiled to see the little girl standing there. She was adorable and innocent and full of wonder as she watched Cerberus and Yue puzzling over the bare cherry tree. Cerberus was being questioning and worried while Yue was trying to be accepting and patient. Clow realized that Yue was imitating his own attitudes and saying things will happen when they happen. He smiled and decided to surprise his creations with a shower of blossoms. The appearance of the little girl made him feel like showing off.

"I wonder what Kero-chan and Yue-san are doing..."

"They're waiting," Clow answered simply. Still, when he heard the girl call Cerberus "Kero-chan" he was stunned into remembering his aunt and how she was the only one Cerberus had accepted the nickname from. Could this be the reincarnation of Esther? She jumped and turned her huge green eyes upon the magician and he knew that this girl had to be connected to Esther somehow. It warmed him to think that his legacy would pass on to someone he loved so much.

She stammered, surprised, but he hushed her with a finger to his lips. He rarely had the opportunity to surprise his guardians anymore and loved to see their faces when pleased. He brought out his Flower card with a smile and asked her kindly to make the tree bloom. He then basked in the surprised joy coming from Cerberus and Yue. "Is that better?"

"Geez...Of course it is!" Cerberus grinned, overjoyed.

Yue just smiled, the simple little contented smile that made Clow's heart leap in his chest. Especially these days, Yue's smiles were precious gifts that he wouldn't trade for the world. Clow knew he had less than a year left in this world, so he hoarded those treasures.

Within his mind though he could hear the girl's words from behind where she still stood. "Kero-chan and Yue-san look so happy." Her voice held terrible regret when she said it; enhanced by the fact she said the words too softly for his physical ears to hear. The terrible sadness and insecurity the girl felt was painfully transmitted directly to his soul. "They both look very happy."

He let the magic of the Return card slip her gently to a time where he would be able to help her more. A few months to mull things over. Maybe then he'd be able to help her.

\-----

That summer was one of the most beautiful and peaceful summers of Clow's life. He considered napping in the garden with Cerberus and Yue, but he didn't sleep much anymore. There were so many things to do, and he was too aware that he didn't have much time. He wanted to make sure he wouldn't leave any books half read. He knew that there would be too much left unfinished as it was without leaving books in the middle.

That's when he felt the presence of the little girl again. From his visions he realized that this was Sakura. She was like his daughter, but at the same time not. He couldn't puzzle it out any better than that. He was afraid he didn't really *want* to know.

She had appeared sleeping peacefully, draped over Cerberus's neck. He knew that both of the time related cards were very draining, so he let her sleep as long as she could. She looked very peaceful, very comfortable, and she had to love Cerberus very much for them both to sleep together like that. He had an image of Cerberus creating a small false form to hide with in less enlightened times and wondered if Sakura thought of the proud Cerberus as a cuddly stuffed toy. It was something that would certainly delight a young child like her. He chuckled to himself and returned to reading, enjoying the perfect day.

He knew immediately when she woke up because her energy felt different. She was more powerful than anyone else he had known at that age, and she was twice as sweet as Esther had been as well. Though, that might be because he had picked on his younger aunt....

"Did you sleep well?" He kept his voice kind and soothing; wanting to make sure she was at ease and also not wanting to disturb the other two as they slept.

Sakura proved that she was just as energetic as Esther had been. "Clow! Um...I..."

He hushed her gently with a finger to his lips. "This is a quiet place to rest during the day." He smiled at her to remove any sting from being reprimanded for her shouting, then turned back to his book. He found he could no longer concentrate on the words though. This girl was much more interesting. He smiled and wondered what it would be like to know her in the future.

Sakura bowed her head a little and started again quietly. "There is something I'd like to ask you.... Uh...um...you see..."

He didn't have to look up from his book to answer her with a question of his own. "About the future?" He waited for her affirmation, trying to think of a way around this. Playing with the timeline could be tricky, and giving her too much information could negate--it was too late to worry that over again. "What is it you want to ask?"

"Uh...you see...strange things are happening, and we always feel your presence when they appear, so I was wondering if you had done anything."

He gave her the most direct answer he could...considering he didn't know for sure himself yet. "If I will, then I did. If I won't, I didn't."

"What do you mean?"

Clow was saved from trying to explain when Cerberus interrupted. "Clow!" They both jumped a little, but the golden guardian beast continued without opening his eyes a bit. "No! Don't use the Bubble card!" He squirmed like he was being tickled. "Please...stop...." He laughed a bit, then went back into a deeper sleep.

Clow continued smiling, overjoyed by the peace and contentment he had enjoyed in his life. It hadn't all been wonderful, but it was easy at times like this to remember how the good things outweighed the bad. "Well, well..."

"It's nice here," Sakura began with some trepidation. She had let the sadness overwhelm her again. "Very peaceful."

He knew that events of the future were troubling her a lot less than her emotions of the future. She was so young to be so sad when faced with his joy. Something was wrong. "And how are you? Do you like these children?"

"I love them!" She insisted. "Kero, Yue, and the cards! But...but I'm just not you."

Her answer spoke volumes. He stood up, not able to face thoughts of his mortality sitting here in such a perfect day. He knew that she was having to deal with his grieving guardians in her own time. Yue would be the one that couldn't let go, even with such a happy child. For a moment he almost regretted loving his angel so much. Almost. But he knew Yue would be hurt no matter what...even when it had been unexpressed, their love had been strong. He walked away until Sakura asked him to wait, then he paused and basked in the glow of the summer day. It was easy to enjoy a day like this, but a chill had settled within him.

"The summer is over so soon." He allowed himself to be swept along with her by the power of the Return card into autumn. He would be pulled back into summer soon enough, but he wanted to point out to her how much like the seasons a human life was. It would be easiest to illustrate that point while still beside her. "Each season passes into the next." There was beauty in the changing of the leaves, but there was also finality in it. He walked among the fallen leaves and paid more attention than ever to how they crunched beneath his weight. The chill that had entered his soul at thoughts of mortality now surrounded them in the air. It felt the same. "Have you ever thought about how sad that is? I have. Why can't the seasons stay?"

Sakura was distracted by the colors and the cold, and he didn't want to deal with this yet. His final autumn. No. He wanted to enjoy his final summer with his wonderful creations. He let her slip into winter as he faded back into the summer and his beautiful garden.

Yue was just stirring when Clow slipped back under the shade of their tree. "Where were you, Clow?"

"Taking care of some business."

"Work? On a day like today?"

"You're right. It won't happen again." He smiled and sat closer to Yue, running a hand across his back.

Yue smiled and leaned his head against Clow's shoulder. "I wish today would never end."

"Me too," Clow said in return. "But since it can't, let's make the best of it."

They wrapped each other in love and graced each other with kisses that spoke of an eternal moment of love. For Yue time seemed to stand still, but for Clow time relentlessly continued toward the inevitable.  _My greatest wish, though, is that when I am gone you will find this happiness again._

\-----

Sakura's energy returned that snowy, winter day. Clow had just realized that today was the day he ran out of time. The words had barely left his mouth as a warning to his beloved guardians when he felt the girl run into the house. So, he would be sharing even this moment with her. He thought he would feel intruded upon, but he realized that it was a comfort to him. It helped him smile a little more genuinely to remember that such a wonderful and caring person would come after him and take care of those beings he loved most.

He would need all the support and comfort he could get. He kept the smile on his face, but inside his heart bled for Cerberus and Yue. Especially Yue.

"Explain yourself, Clow! What does this mean?" Yue's tone was harsh and angry and the betrayal in his eyes was the worst sight Clow had ever had to face.

"It's as I told you, Yue. I will leave this world today." He had to be the strong one. If they saw his fear and hurt at this necessity it would be so much harder for them to face. He had to be strong for them.

Cerberus looked disturbed, confused. "That's not something to joke about."

"I'm sorry," Clow admitted softly. "It is not a joke."

"Why?" asked Yue forcefully.

"It is my time."

Cerberus's words mocked Clow with their blind faith in him. "Your time? Impossible. You're the world's greatest magician. You made us!"

"Even so, everything must die in time--even me."

Cerberus echoed Yue's last question now. "Why?"

"There will be someone who will come and care for you in my place," Clow assured them.

"I don't want anyone else," Yue said, his voice choked with emotion.

"Then this person will need your approval," Clow reasoned.

Yue exploded with anger at being rejected so simply. "I wouldn't approve of anyone else!"

Clow dismissed Yue's blind loyalty gently, already knowing what would happen in time. "It won't just be up to you, Yue. Cerberus, you will also have to approve."

Cerberus remained lost, unable to quite accept what was happening. "Are you serious?"

"You two and the Clow Cards will be happy with your new master when I'm gone. That is my final wish."

\-----

The transition from life to death was both more and less difficult than Clow had expected. There had been pain, but that was finished now. That life was finally over, and he didn't realize how wearying it had been until he allowed himself to rest.

Sakura was there, waiting. She still had questions, and he realized that though he still could not answer some of those questions, he could answer others for her. The answers she needed he could give freely, and the answers she thought she needed would be answered sooner than she could hope for. He would give her insight, something she needed much more than answers.

"Every life comes to an end at some point. Even ours. It is part of being alive."

"What happened to Kero-chan and Yue?"

Her love and concern washed over him like a spring dawn, and he knew he had made the right decision in letting go and encouraging her to take his place. "That is why I'm happy that you have become their new mistress."

"But I--"

"No. You'll do fine. Please take care of them, okay Sakura?"

She was nearly crying in her distress and insecurity. "I can't do it! I can't become you! I don't want them to forget about you, but...but I'm not you."

"That's what I expected. You are you; I don't expect you to be me. There are a lot of things that only you can do."

"Only me," she questioned, disbelieving.

Clow nodded kindly. "We cannot live in the past forever. The future is always ahead of us." He pulled her back to the garden, though it would never truly be his again. It was still eternal in its beauty and would forever contain the happiest memories he had. He was dead and his most beloved creations were sealed away, but the garden was far from empty and he needed Sakura to know that. "The winter is over. A new spring has begun." She marveled at the beauty revealing itself as the snow melted and the flowers awoke. The winter he had cast over his creations was over. Sakura's spring was dawning. Clow gently pulled his energy away, leaving her with one last insight. "It's okay. I am me, and you are you. That's the way things are supposed to be."

\-----

Eriol broke from his reverie, watching Sakura struggle to change the Light and Dark cards. They had been Clow's last, and most powerful cards...and among his most beloved. He  _needed_  her to change those cards. The loss of any card would be a great pain to him, but those two cards were so kind and charming and wonderful and had taken so much work to create and.... It would cut him like a knife to see those two of all the cards become nothing more than ink and cardboard.

When he had arrived in Tomoeda he had started pushing Sakura to change the cards right away. There was no time to lose. What he had been doing until this night was like walking a tightrope without a net. He needed to keep walking. He needed to make her keep walking. And he couldn't afford to make any mistakes or let  _her_  make any either. It was a balance for him between pushing her to her limits and keeping her back enough that he could do what he needed without detection. Disaster after disaster distracted her and kept her on her toes while forcing her to become more and more powerful. Finally he was forced to pull the ultimate punch.

She had just used the Return card on her own to ask Clow about the things going on now. Eriol remembered that vividly, finally putting all the pieces into place. Sakura should have returned so weak that his spell to put everyone to sleep at once would have knocked her out instantly.

Instead she had returned with enough energy to change six of the last eight cards and force his hand to making this the time and place of the final showdown.

This was better than he could have planned, because it forced her to rely on things that she wouldn't have found out otherwise. Yue and Cerberus had shown her that they could return to pure magic to aid her. The part of him that was Clow had nearly wept to see them, the proud sun guardian and the beautiful moon guardian, become  _unraveled_  like that. Still, she needed to know her limits, right? She needed to know her resources also.

And then an unexpected resource stepped up. Li Syaoran watched her struggle with the last two cards, despite the extra energy of her guardians. Syaoran gave her the energy she needed, even though he had been staggering and supporting himself with his sword. Her bonds with others gave her greater strength than Clow could have ever called upon. When Sakura had become too weak to support Yue's energy her brother had sacrificed his own magic for his best friend's life. Every time she faltered there was someone to help her...including Eriol. She was destined for greatness. She may never be known beyond her circle of friends, but among that circle she would always be wonderful.

As he thought that the last two cards finally accepted her energy as part of themselves and became Sakura Cards. Light burst forth and dissipated his spell of darkness. Eriol smiled in relief.

"Oh my, it looks like she's beaten your magic." Ruby was distressed to see her master beaten at his own game, but she noted that Eriol wasn't worried.

"Is that what you wanted, Eriol?" Spinel had always been the more insightful of the two. Ruby had always been Eriol's best friend and fun companion, but Spinel had almost been a surrogate parent at times, especially in the beginning. Spinel knew the ins and outs of his more mature thought processes, and Ruby was the key to his sense of fun. He couldn't bring himself to regret the mistake he had made in their creation, no matter what the consequences would be.

Eriol smiled, assuring them both. "Yes. It's finally over." The relief he felt was greater than any other feeling he could think of. He then watched Sakura as she checked on her friends. She was worried about her brother not waking up as fast as Tomoyo, but Yue reappeared and assured her that Touya would be fine. It would all be fine now.

"Sakura." Eriol stood on the ground now, approaching as an equal. Cerberus and Yue rushed forward to protect her immediately, but Eriol waved them off. "It's over. I won't hurt her."

Sakura was startled and searched his eyes for an answer. "Over? What is?"

Eriol smiled and simply answered, "They're all Sakura Cards now."

As soon as he spoke, her cards floated up and showed off their glory. They were all happy and not one had been missed. Sakura held out her hands for them, then hugged them to her heart with such love that a lump formed in Eriol's throat. It was a beautiful sight.

He had intruded on her enough. It was time for him to return to his house and make preparations to return to England. He teleported himself and his guardians back home. Sakura would be free to celebrate without his intrusions any more. She would seek him out when she was ready, and then he would be free of it all for good.

He was looking forward to going home and finally resting. Maybe some day Sakura would even look past what had happened and be his friend. He sincerely hoped so. He had never had a true friend like that, or at least not as an equal.

With a shake of his head he dismissed his sentimental melancholy. The trials were over, and life could begin.

\-----

Sakura had had fun at the party Eriol threw, but it was tinged with terrible sadness also. Her friend was leaving. He would be on the other side of the world! She didn't even think about how he had been the source of so much distress over the last few months. She understood that he had just done what he needed.

She was actually sad to see it was all coming to an end.

She was reluctant to leave the party. Miss Mizuki gave her a smile that said it was okay, and Sakura knew she had one more thing to do before leaving. Sakura bit her lower lip nervously for a bit, then made up her mind. "Eriol, can I talk to you?"

"Of course," he said gently.

"I wanted to say...thank you for being my friend. I'm going to miss you."

"After all that, you still consider me your friend?" His eyes were confused, betraying his loneliness and pain for the first time that she had seen. He looked vulnerable in that moment, and Sakura was confused about why.

"Of course! You did what needed to be done, but you were also my friend all the other times!"

He smiled sadly, then half turned away. "Even in this body, I'm not the same age as you." His voice was wistful, and he looked unsure of why he was admitting it. "I'm the same age as your father, Sakura. I haven't had friends at all in a very long time."

"No, because you have Spinel Sun and Ruby Moon, and they are wonderful friends for you."

His smile grew more genuine and less sad. "This is true, but I meant real people as friends. An equal. Being your friend would mean a lot to me. I mean, it does mean a lot to me."

"Good!" Her cheer was infectious, but short lived. "Uh...Eriol? How is it that you're my dad's age?"

"When my parents died in a plane crash, I didn't have anyone left. I had been having dreams, and I called upon high magic to create Ruby and Spinel to keep me company. It wasn't until too late that I realized that I had altered the last spell Clow had cast. He had divided his soul and his magic in two so that the magic wouldn't kill him again, but I accidentally took it all when I created them. I haven't aged since then."

"So, you'll be this age forever? Until you die? How horrible! Isn't there anything you can do?"

"I'd need to give half of Clow's magic to the one who holds the other half of Clow's soul. It would take a lot of magic to do though, and I can't do that and give the magic away at the same time. It would take someone as powerful as Clow was to return me to normal."

Sakura jumped up, clapping her hands, then hugged him. "When can we do it? I know that Yue said I'm not as powerful as Clow was yet, but I'll work on it really hard and when I'm ready I'll help you!"

Eriol was silent for a long time, his eyes wide with shock. "You'd do that? For me?"

"Of course! That's what friends are for. Do you know who would get all that magic?"

Eriol ducked his head, refusing to meet her eyes at first. "Your father. He is the other half of Clow Reed."

"Wow!"


	15. True Loves

When the phone rang in the middle of the night Yukito jumped, knowing something was very wrong. Touya was closer though, and not able to be prepared for the news. Yuki automatically wrapped his arms around his lover for comfort and support, not surprised when Touya's body went stiff. Touya's voice went gruff, but so was the voice on the other line. Yuki rested his head on Touya's broad back and just waited.

"Who was it?" Yukito kept his voice soft after Touya hung up, needing to know what was so wrong.

"Eriol. He...he had some bad news."

"To-ya? What bad news."

"Kaho."

Touya's shoulders were shaking. He was close to crying, but not close enough.

Yuki moved so he could look Touya in the eye. "What? What happened?"

"She...she's dead." The pain of the statement ripped Yuki's heart in two, knowing how hard it must be for Touya to have heard of the death of a good friend--and first love.

"I--I'll call Sakura and your father."

"No, Eriol called there first. That's how he got our number."

Yuki suddenly felt helpless. He didn't know what to do. He had never faced death or anything nearly this serious before. "How did she...?"

Touya shook his head. "Breast cancer. She knew months ago, but didn't tell Eriol about it until a month ago when she was hospitalized. It was too late when she found out. She didn't want anyone to know. Dammit, that's just like her."

Yuki inhaled sharply, mindlessly holding on to Touya's hand and hoping that he could be of some sort of comfort. They sat in silence for a long time, neither one knowing what to say or do. Finally, Touya turned and started making phone calls, arranging to go to England for the funeral. Yukito sat, watching, with no idea of what to do. He had never felt so helpless or alone, and he wasn't sure it was all his own emotions pulling at him.

\-----

Eriol had kissed her hand and listened to her final breath and watched the nurse note the time on a piece of paper. Everything after that was a blur. He remembered insisting that he should tell Kinomoto Touya that his first love had left the world, but it hadn't given him the comfort he had hoped. He was looking for someone else to understand what he was going through, but he hadn't gotten that feeling. He hadn't gotten any feelings. He was too numb.

Nakuru had wrapped her arms around him as soon as the magician had returned home, and he noticed that his normally cheerful creation looked like she had been crying for days. Maybe she had been. He had no idea.

"Master, I don't understand! When Grandmother died she was old and had lived her life and she said we shouldn't cry for an old woman who would be just moving on, but this! Kaho was my friend! We went shopping together! She taught me so much and we had fun together and she was younger than me! She was younger than you. I don't understand!"

Spinel, in his full form, padded in. "I don't understand either. A month is hardly enough time to find an answer in all the spell books we have. It wasn't fair for her to expect us to help her if all she gave us was a month. It was inconsiderate of her."

Eriol didn't know what to say to them. He hoped they would understand in time. He hoped  _he_  would understand in time. He walked past, into the living room, and started a fire in the fireplace. It was done slowly, methodically, and finally a huge blaze cast flickers of light around the room.

It was unbearable. He finally answered Spinel, "I don't think she  _wanted_  us to find an answer."

" ** _What???_**  You think she wanted to die? Why would anybody want to die?"

"Stop. She was sick. She was in pain. She knew as much about this library as you do, Spinel. She knew there were no answers here. There was nothing anyone could do, so she didn't want us to worry."

Ruby stood tall, suddenly angry. "Is this some kind of goodbye like she pulled with Touya? Where she says, oh, I'm leaving tomorrow and since there was nothing you can do you shouldn't have to worry? Because I  **know**  how hurt Touya was when she did that. Didn't she?"

"My beautiful Ruby Moon, if you knew you would die soon, would you want people to be happy around you and make you forget why you had to be sad, or would you want everyone to weep and feel terrible?"

"I don't know! I'll never know! It just doesn't feel fair, like she didn't trust us to feel our own emotions!"

Eriol searched his guardian's face, seeing more maturity than he ever wanted to see upon that beautiful face. "I know, Ruby. I know. I don't think there are any right answers here though." He sighed deeply, realizing that Clow had done essentially the same thing to his own creations. Was he on the receiving end this time as a karmic return for the pain he had caused? It made him uncomfortable to think of. "Sometimes death is about comforting the one who knows death is knocking at the door more than helping those who will be left behind."

The words rang hollow in his own ears. "The dead don't have to deal with death anymore. That part of the journey is over. Since I'm the one who will always be left behind, I think I deserve a little comfort too." Ruby was bitter and Spinel was backing her up silently.

Eriol wanted to embrace them both and pour out his heart. He wanted to cry on them and let them cry for him. He wanted to help them and assure them that he'd always be there and never dream of hurting them like this. Instead he turned back to the fireplace and stared at the flames all night long. He eventually fell asleep in his chair, imagining Kaho bringing him a blanked and a book and watching over him from the couch as she used to do. Looking at Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun made him think about how he would deal with explaining his own eventual death to them. He couldn't bear it right now.

\-----

A lot of families from Tomoeda were there for the funeral. Each of Kaho's former students surprised Eriol with their mature appearance. He hadn't thought about them aging at all, though they were all young adults like his own body was now. Rika had married Mr. Terada. Chiharu and Yamazaki were engaged, though only Chirahu had been able to attend. Chirahu had shown Eriol pictures of Naoko and other old friends who couldn't make it, and they all looked so grown up. He wondered why he had thought time would stand still for everyone but himself. He was so thrilled with his own aging process that he hadn't considered anyone else's.

Sakura was now an accomplished young sorceress, finally grown into her powers and gaining the wisdom to temper her innocence. Syaoran had apparently returned to Tomoeda the year before and the two of them had picked up where they left off...in love, but too shy to do anything about it. It was adorable to see them now, lightening Eriol's heart many magnitudes, especially when Syaoran nervously tried to comfort Sakura. Their shyness would fade some day, but not the quivery feeling of giddy happiness whenever they were in each other's presence. It was a wonderful thing.

When Touya had arrived he had looked paranoid. When Nakuru walked in he looked almost panicked. He had nervously pressed closer to Yuki, but Nakuru had simply smiled sadly and walked over calmly. "There's nothing to worry about, Touya. The better man won, yes Tsukishiro-kun?"

Yuki had returned her smile in kind, extending a hand in friendship and a kind of camaraderie. "Thank you Akitsuki-san."

Touya, being the sensitive soul he was, immediately stuck his foot in his mouth. "What's wrong with you, Nakuru.?"

Her eyes glowed dangerously for a second before tears welled in her eyes. "I loved her too, you idiot!" With that Nakuru had run off, distraught.

Eriol had nearly choked on the water he had been drinking. His guardian's emotions had been suddenly bared, exposed for what they really were, and the love had not been a family love. Nakuru had loved Kaho in the way Eriol wished he could have. He was haunted, wondering if that was the reason Kaho had been so willing to give up the fight for life. "Ah, what a fool I've been," he sighed, taking another drink of water.

"You should not blame yourself, Hiiragizawa-kun. It may be part of the grieving process, but it's a part you can too easily poison yourself with."

The voice was soft, sweet like a delicate flower, and kinder than he could remember anyone sounding. The young lady the voice came from had long, flowing cascades of midnight hair. There was something very familiar about her, but he was at a total loss as to who she could be. "Do I know you?" His words were a lot more hopeful than he felt he had a right to. Still, he felt hope in her smile.

"You don't remember your most faithful pen-pal?" The girl dimpled, and suddenly the slight resemblance blossomed in full as he realized that this was Daidouji Tomoyo.

"You've changed. I'm hardly myself though, so I'm surprised I recognized Sakura, and she still looks the same."

Tomoyo smiled, but this time a little sadness and loneliness crept into her features. "No she doesn't. She is a lot more beautiful now than she was back then."

"Happier too," he added with a sigh as he saw Sakura grinning at her boyfriend.

Tomoyo's voice almost had a hint of bitterness...or was that his own imagination? She said, "And I am very happy for her happiness." Tomoyo sighed, and there was a touch of wistful loneliness to it. "I found out that today was the day Syaoran had planned on asking her to marry him. It's too bad. I don't know when he'll gather his courage again."

"Your letters are full of Sakura's love and happiness. Why haven't you found someone?"

She just smiled sadly and shrugged. "It will happen some day. Or it won't. I'm trying not to dwell on it right now."

He nodded, sympathizing more than he wanted to admit. Then Tomoyo was gone and he vowed to himself that when they started writing letters again he'd try to make her happier. She had spent so much energy making everyone else happy around her, but she didn't even know how to make herself happy. Someone had to take care of the caregiver.

Everyone had been so kind, so solicitous, and he couldn't take one more, "I'm sorry for your loss." While he was still numb he walked off to comfort his guardian butterfly and try to make sure she didn't lose that spark that made her unique. Another embittered moon guardian pining for the loss of someone they loved would be too much for his sanity. He rather loved the pink hair and enthusiasm. He didn't want to mess everything up across  _two_  lifetimes.

"Pull the pins out of your Touya voodoo doll, Ruby Moon. He didn't mean to hurt you."

She handed him a glare, showing a pristine doll that resembled Touya and then held up a doll with dark hair and glasses with pins running everywhere. Eriol raised an eyebrow, but didn't say a thing.

"At least I don't  _do_  anything with them," she defended herself with a pout.

He slowly entered her room. He slipped the little Eriol-doll from her fingers and pulled out each pin with care. He noted the colors at the ends of the pins and the locations of each. "You knew."

"That you weren't in love with Kaho? Of course I knew! We all knew." Ruby looked offended. "She was both too young and too old for you, and even she felt strange about it. Stupid humans."

**_ "Ruby!" _ **  In his shock he raised his voice for the first time he could remember. "Ruby," he started again more gently. "I know that dealing with this is hard, but it's part of life. As Clow I lived many times longer than most people, and I saw others die while I thought I was immortal. Then, for decades, I realized that I was dying. Seeing everything you love die is just as painful as knowing some day others will have to see you die. Don't think your emotions are any more or less important than any human being."

She finally lost her anger and sobbed in his arms. "You had her and didn't want her. I wanted her and never had her. She wouldn't have wanted me anyway, but as long as she was happy and alive I could pretend, or hope, or something. And if we lost her, then some day that means we'll lose you too, and I want to just hate you so that when you die it won't hurt so much. Nothing should ever hurt this much!"

Eriol just held her, rocking her close, and wondering if he would ever be the one to be held.

\-----

That night Touya rolled over, seeking Yukito's usual warmth. His arms encountered nothing, and that was enough to wake him. The emptiness frightened him more than he knew it should, but panic made his heart hammer at a frantic pace. Even the sight of Yue standing at the window didn't ease the feeling of being abandoned, though he tried to push it down.

"Yue?" Even to his own ears Touya's voice sounded vulnerable, but he couldn't help it.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking, Touya. I'm sorry to have taken your love away when you need him so much, but he...he's not feeling...Yuki is very insecure right now."

"What?"

"He's never had to deal with death, or with comforting others. He's scared that he'll do something wrong or that you won't want to be around him because he doesn't understand."

"Oh no! I--"

Yue stopped him by raising a hand. He crossed over to Touya and sat next to him on the bed. "I didn't know what to do to help my false form through this, but I realized something. I have the experience Yuki doesn't. I know what it feels like to lose someone you love, and I know how I wish someone could have helped me. Is it okay if I am here for you, Touya? I--I'm not a good substitute for Yuki, but I want to--to be--to do something good with all the hell I've been through. Does that make sense?"

"Yes. Yes, it does." Touya chuckled. "I don't think you've ever said so much at once. Thank you." He hesitantly reached his arms toward Yue, seeking to hold the mysterious being. Yue met him half way, with slightly more confidence. They held each other on through the night, touching, caressing, crying a little at times. Touya wasn't sure which one of them started moving a bit further in the area of caressing, but neither of them gave signs that they wanted the other to stop or back off. Finally Touya took the plunge and leaned in to kiss Yue and found his lips waiting and responsive. The kiss was hesitant and simply reassuring at first, but it built like a fire between the two. Touya couldn't stop touching this beautiful being that was so similar to his Yukito, but so strangely different. His fingers were fascinated with touching the long strands of hair. When the kiss finally broke off Touya was panting for breath, and lost himself in the silvery cat's eyes that seemed to be lost within his own. Very slowly, very cautiously, the pair undressed each other, and just as slowly they met together and brought solace with each other's love.

\-----

Sakura was almost happy when they boarded the plane to go home. She would miss Eriol, but she had redoubled her resolve to write to him more often and try to persuade him to visit Tomoeda. She had missed Eriol a lot over the years, so it had been nice to see him again despite the circumstances. Everyone was leaving with a new determination to not let distance and apathy keep them apart, even Kero and Suppi. Spinel still loathed that nickname, but it seemed to be a permanent thing now. Well, Keroberus hadn't liked being called Kero at first either, but it was so much easier!

Sakura was relieved to see Touya and Yukito sit in the seats together in front of her and Syaoran, and Touya actually had a soft smile on his face. The two had been so tense and hesitant when they arrived that Sakura had been worried. It made her feel warm and happy to see that they were comfortable together again. She didn't understand why, but that wasn't important. All that mattered was that they were happy. She loved them both too much to see them sad.

Sakura hurried to the window seat, eager to watch everything fall away as the plane took flight. She had come to adore flying above almost anything else, magic or no. She smiled to feel the rumble as they finally took off and didn't settle back until clouds obscured too much of the ground. That's when she noticed that Syaoran was acting very nervous and Tomoyo had her camera out…discretely of course.

"What's the matter, Syaoran?"

He looked like he was going to be ill, and Sakura was suddenly very worried about him. He finally managed to say, with a shaky voice, "Could you turn around and look out the window again. Just for a moment?"

Sakura's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, but she did what she was asked. She heard Syaoran take a few deep breaths, then his arms reached around her from behind and in one had he had a jewelry box. A diamond ring glittered from the bed of velvet and satin, and he whispered the words in her ear. "Sakura, will you marry me?"

Half the plane turned around when she squealed with delight and shouted, "YES!"

She turned around quickly and hugged him close, trying to ignore her brother as he started complaining and threatening. "That yes had better not be what I think it is, monster! I'll kill that brat with my bare hands if--"

Yukito murmured something softly that silenced her big brother, and Sakura felt suddenly like she was the luckiest person in the world. So many wonderful people cared about her, and she had come to realize that that was the most important thing in the world.


	16. Decisions

_ I've put this off too long already, _  Yue thought nervously. Touya had just stood up to turn off the television and Yukito was sitting on the couch with a book in another quiet night at home. Yuki reached the end of the chapter and Yue set the book aside, reclaiming his true form.

When Touya turned around he jumped. "What? Yue? What's wrong?"

Yue just shook his head. "I need to talk to you. It's about Yukito and what happened in England."

Touya went pale and sat on the other side of the couch. "What do you mean?"

The two of them faced each other in silence for a minute before Yue finally sighed and explained. "I've been doing a lot of thinking. You see, when I awoke from the Clow book I was very depressed and didn't want to face anything. I created Yukito to be what I couldn't and to face a world I didn't want to. I realized something though. By hiding behind him I'm not helping anyone. I put part of myself in Yukito, but neither of us are whole without the other."

His dark haired lover smiled gently. "I know."

"I want to be whole again, but I don't want to take Yukito away from you. I need to talk to you about this and know how you feel about it. I thought it would be fine to just hide and stay hidden forever and just come out to do my duty, but I can't do that now."

"Yue, I understand. I really do. I've been watching the last few years, and as much as I love Yuki, he isn't a whole person. There are parts of him that only exist in you, and parts of you that only exist in him. He doesn't understand pain or depression because you keep that all inside yourself, but you don't laugh or smile or take joy in the world around you."

Yue looked defensive. "I smile."

"You don't smile the way he does. I know you love, I know you feel protective and you care and sometimes you can smile when you are moved to. I can see that. I've seen you smile at  _me_  sometimes, but you never let that smile do more than grace your lips. I've been waiting for this."

"I make the greatest personal discovery of my existence, and you tell me it's about time. Clow would be laughing right now." Yue tried to smile at that thought, but a single tear raced down his cheek, betraying his true emotions. "But do you know...do you know that I'm scared to feel joy? I'm terrified to let myself be as happy as my false form."

"It all comes to an end," Touya said gently. "Even this will some day, and I can't think of anything more scary than that. When you hide behind Yuki, you can almost forget that you'll still be here when everyone else is dead, but when you are yourself it's all you think about."

"Yes."

Touya moved closer, resting a hand on Yue's. "If I could be immortal for you, I would."

Yue's eyes glowed intensely for a moment, then he held Touya's hand gently and gave him a sweet smile. "I know. And in my heart you will be immortal. That is why I want to be me all the time now and stop pretending--stop hiding behind Yukito all the time. I want be myself with you so I won't carry a lie with me when this is over."

"I can't think of anything that would make me happier," he said, moments before he gathered Yue into his arms for a kiss.

\-----

Eriol pressed the intercom button, chuckling to himself. No one knew he was in town, no one was expecting him. They had no reason to suspect he would be here, since twenty-four hours ago he hadn't known himself. He and Tomoyo had been exchanging letters and phone calls for a year, and finally he had received her last letter and made his decision. It was time to return to Tomoeda.

"May I ask who is calling," the polite voice answered.

"A friend of Tomoyo's."

"Please wait a moment."

He waited a minute until the gate started opening, then ran to the house as he saw the front door opening. There was Tomoyo herself, looking happy but bewildered. Before she could get a word out he had wrapped her up in his arms.

"What is this about?" Her arms had wrapped around him to return the hug, but she pulled back immediately.

Eriol laughed. "I have returned. To stay. I'll be building another house and staying in Tomoeda now, there are only empty memories in England, but here there are friends. I want to be closer to Sakura and help her learn more magic. I want to be closer to you also. I had a vision, and since they're so rare now I thought it must be extremely important."

"A vision? Is something bad going to happen?"

"Quite the opposite." He smiled, kissed her cheek, then pulled away. "I want you to hold on to something for me. In a year you'll want to open it. Can you wait that year for me?"

She stuttered a bit, clearly confused, but she accepted willingly enough. He left soon after that, giving her his phone number at the hotel he stayed at until he found a house.

\-----

The year passed in a haze of joy and frustration for Tomoyo. Sakura and Syaoran were married and spent an equal time in Hong Kong and Tomoeda. Tomoyo realized she had been measuring her life by Sakura's, even when she began designing dolls and doll clothes for her mother's company. And so, when Sakura left town for months, Tomoyo felt a little lost.

And she turned to her other best friend to try to fill that void a little.

They spent more and more time together, talking or having fun and remembering the old days. "Eriol, if I didn't know better I'd think you're trying to court me." Tomoyo giggled, feeling a nervous flutter at the thought, but she wouldn't let herself come to any conclusions. She was just another girl after all, and he was half of the legendary Clow Reed.

"What makes you think you know better?" He looked wicked as he moved closer, pulling her hand to him.

Cold electricity ran through her at his touch and she almost pulled away. "Please, don't play games with me. It's wonderful that you're such a good friend, and I'm lucky just for that much."

He just nodded and let her go. "Let me know what you decide." And with that he walked away.

She ran home, crying. She didn't understand what he meant, and she felt so hurt and rejected. He had never just walked away. She cried for a few minutes on her bed, then remembered the package he had given her a year ago. Would there be a clue about what he meant there? She wouldn't put it past him.

Yes, there was a note.

_ Tomoyo, _

_ It's time for you to know what brought me back to Tomoeda. It was you. _

_ You helped me when I needed help. _

_ When I was in pain, when I felt unworthy, you gave me hope. I want to do the same for you, if you'll let me. By the time you read this, Sakura will be enjoying her happily ever after. You owe it to yourself to enjoy your own happily ever after, and I'd like to be a part of that, if you will let me. _

_ Okay, yes, I had a vision about this night. Yes, I'd like to court you if I may. If you just want a friend I will accept that, but don't let your insecurities get in the way. You've done so much for so many. Let me do this for you. _

_ Eriol _

Tears of joy sprang to her eyes. She ran to the phone with only one thought in her mind. Yes.

\-----

Years passed in happy fulfillment for everyone involved. Sakura and Syaoran had a son. Tomoyo and Eriol married and had a daughter. They grew up together, learning magic from their parents. Neither of them was strong enough to inherit the cards, but neither Sakura nor Eriol was surprised.

"Eriol," Sakura pulled him aside for a talk. "I have been dreaming of the future."

He simply nodded. "Yes, I suppose you would be." His expression was suddenly guarded.

"I've seen some strange things about the future, and I'm not sure what to think of them. They're not about things in this life though."

"What have you seen?"

She frowned. "I'm not sure how to describe it. There was Yue and Kero-chan. They were watching over someone else, but I was there. But, I wasn't me. You were there, and so was Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun, but you were my brother. They were guarding a deck of cards though, and that doesn't make any sense at all."

"I had the same visions a long time ago. I know what you're talking about." From his jacket pocket he pulled a dark blue book that looked strangely similar to the pink book that held the Sakura cards. "I can't use them anymore, I don't have the magic to do more than support them and Spinel and Ruby. It's okay though, because it needed to be done."

Sakura wrapped him up in a friendly hug. "You've sacrificed so much, haven't you?"

"Not so much, Sakura. It's not a sacrifice when you know it's the right thing to do." He smiled, then waited. His eyes became piercing as he looked at her, until the light finally shone in her eyes.

"I'll be sacrificing a lot too, won't I?"

His frown was one of deepest concern as he nodded. "I'm sorry, but it seems that time will come."

"Clow sacrificed a lot for me, and you did too. It wouldn't be fair of me not to do the same for the one who will follow me."

Still, she looked troubled.

Eriol smiled. "Clow Reed had an aunt on his father's side. She was very close to his age and their relationship was more like siblings from what I can remember now. He loved her very much, and was extremely upset when she died, especially since it was only a few years after his parents had died. He would have done anything for her though, so when he began having visions of the future he decided that any sacrifice would be worth it, if it would help her--and her reincarnation."

"What?" Sakura's green eyes grew huge as she listened.

He nodded solemnly. "She had the same light brown hair and bright green eyes that you do. The same cheerful personality that draws people.... Yes, Sakura. Clow Reed was not helping some stranger that he saw in visions of the future. He instantly knew that you were part of someone he held very dear. That made the sacrifices worth it."

"W-why are you telling me this now?"

"Because the sacrifice you are going to make will be just as personal for you."

She frowned a moment, concentrating. Then her face lit up with understanding. "Oh! I see now!" Then her expression became serene, kind. "The sacrifices you are making are for someone you care about too."

Eriol blushed a little, then nodded. "I can't think of a more fitting pair to have the cards. Or to have the guardians."

"Kero-chan might not agree."

"Ah, but it will be another life. Things will not be the same, and we can't plan for everything. There will be surprises."

Sakura smiled. "I think next time Kero-chan will be the judge and Yue will pick the candidate."

Eriol's eyes grew large, but he smiled. Next time around things would become very interesting.


	17. Gift of Growing Old

There were machines and wires and tubes and the usual things that clutter the hospital room of someone who has just had a heart attack. The old man lay in the bed, relying on life support. The doctors had done all they could, but no one expected him to live out the night. Too much damage had been done, the patient was too old, and the will to live was just not enough to hold him when he was in so much pain.

One thing held him to this world though. His love.

"Get that damned haunted look off my boyfriend's face, Yue."

Yue jumped, unaware that the old man was awake and looking back at him. "To-ya, you shouldn't waste your energy scolding me. You have to get better."

"Yue..." Touya's voice had a warning tone to it, but then his face looked tired and resigned and he began again, more subdued. "Yue, I still feel like I should be as young as you look, but even in your false form you look young enough to be my grandson."

"You're not old, To-ya," Yue said automatically, but the words lacked the force they usually did.

"I am old, I am tired, and I am dying. Nothing can be done about that now."

Yue's eyes were wide, showing violet despite using his false form in such a public place.

"No. You have to wait until tomorrow. That is when Sakura said she'd be here, first thing in the morning. And your cousin Tomoyo won't be here for another week. Then there are all of their children who will want to see you. And their grandchildren. It will take a while for everyone to come, so you can't give up now. You just can't."

"I have two states right now: Mindless from being in too much pain and mindless from too much medication. I don't want to live like this. I'm sorry, but Yue, you have to let me go. I'm too tired for this."

Tears were slipping from his eyes, but Yue kept shaking his head back and forth, unable to accept it. "It isn't enough. I've been in this world so long, and I don't grow old. I won't die.  _You_  wouldn't let me die, but now you're asking me to stay here without you?"

Touya's wrinkled face looked cantankerous for a moment before softening. A withered hand reached out for Yue, but the papery texture and the IV needle sticking out made it difficult for Yue to accept his lover's touch. "If I could be immortal for you, I would. If I can find a way back to you, I'll do it without hesitation. I love you with my entire soul, and anything else that is a part of me, but it is my time now. Please, if you love me, let me go so I won't suffer more than I have to?"

\-----

"Sakura, I want to be returned to the book."

His statement was met with dismay, but no real shock. "Please reconsider this, Yue. I know you're hurting, but I don't want to do this. Not right now."

They looked at each other in silence for a long time. Sakura struggled with her emotions and finally got them in check enough to speak again. "I just lost my brother. Do I have to lose you too?"

"How long would you have me stay, Sakura? You don't need me for protection, you can take care of yourself. The cards adore you, Cerberus would move the sun and stars for you as long as you kept him plied with cake and pudding. Syaoran has become so strong that he can match me in anything and he'll protect you from anything I could, and with his mind fully on the task instead of divided as I am afraid my attention will be."

Sakura hesitated a moment, not sure what to tell him. "I'm old too, and so is Syaoran. We won't be around forever, and we're growing weak. Please, Yue, please take care of us. Take care of me."

Yue's face was a mixture of shock and pain and a weary resignation. "Of course, Sakura. I will do whatever the mistress of the cards commands."

"I have another reason, and it's one that has nothing to do with commands or selfish wishes not to have to suffer more. When Clow sealed you within the book, your grief was fresh. When you judged me I knew you were still suffering and it killed me inside for months wishing I could help you. No, it bothered me for years really. Then, when you fell in love with my brother, I hoped that you would never be lonely again. I was young and in love and thought that everything would stay the same forever.

"I've been worrying about you for years now, Yue. I was scared that this day would come, and I didn't know what I would do. Part of me wishes I could find a place to hide from the world and forget everything for a while. When my father died I began to imagine what it would mean for you. Now--I don't want to face a world without Touya either. I don't want to face a world without you. And some day I will face either living in a world without Syaoran, or knowing I'll subject him to a life without me. They both bring me great pain."

"You don't know," he began, but stopped with a shake of his head.

"What is it?" Her voice was soft, quavering a little with age, but containing all the caring she had had when she was a child.

Yue frowned at her, but the look in her eyes convinced him to continue. "You don't know what a gift it is to grow old. Some day you will die and leave others behind. I will always be left behind."

"Growing old is not a gift, Yue."

"Neither is living like this."

She pulled her suffering guardian into her arms, comforting him as she would one of her children. "Please, stay for a while until the pain is not so fresh. I will seal you into the book before I die so that you will not have to see me go as well. I would have spared you the pain of my brother's death if I could have, but it's better that you didn't miss a moment when you could have been with him."

He sobbed softly into her shoulder, unable to contain the emotions any longer. He was crying for Touya, he was crying for Clow, he was crying for the future, he was crying for the past, and he was crying for himself. How much pain and loss would he endure over time? How many masters would the cards have? How many times would he fall in love? How many lives would he encounter and watch fade away?

\-----

"Eriol, he said that growing old was a gift, and I couldn't understand what he meant."

Eriol looked deep into Sakura's eyes and nodded. "In some ways it is, in some ways it isn't, but remember the old saying: The grass is always greener on the other side. You see your body failing you and you feel the pains of growing older. You wish for eternal youth."

Sakura just nodded.

"Haven't you wondered why I didn't even try to stay young this time around?"

"I assumed you don't have the power anymore."

Eriol smiled, and his smile was more kindly in his old age, but no less wise. "I gave up that power. I could have kept it if I wanted. I could have stayed alive for a very long time and not aged a day until the moment I died. Clow did it that way. So, why didn't I?"

Sakura thought about it, but finally shook her head. "You said you didn't want all that power back then."

"I still don't, and I don't regret growing older. I could have taught you how to stay young also, but you would have used it and realized only too late why you shouldn't. Syaoran could not have stayed young along with you, and Tomoyo could not have stayed young with me."

"So, it wouldn't have been fair."

Eriol nodded, reaching for Sakura's hand. "Clow Reed was a very lonely man, despite having Yue and Kero. They helped, but underneath it all he missed being around other humans. I'm very grateful that you wanted to be my friend, this life has been much more full despite being shorter."

"How does that make growing old a gift though?" Sakura was wearing a bewildered expression that hailed from her younger days when she was more naïve.

"Because it's something you can share."

"Oh, and that's something that Yue can't share."

Sakura looked like she was going to cry at the thought. Eriol wiped the tears from her face with a kind gesture. "He shares his gift with others. He will always have Kero at his side."

"And Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun," Sakura agreed with a smile.

"I don't think Yue would share the thought that being immortal along with them is a gift though," Eriol mused with a twinkle in his eye.

They shared a laugh at that. "We'll make it up to him though, right? To all of them."

Eriol nodded, and then it was time to end the conversation as someone entered the room to tell them that they were both now great-grandparents.  _Maybe it is a gift to grow old,_  Sakura thought as she shared in the joy of another birth in the family...one that united Nadeshiko's blood to Sonomi's blood, finally.


	18. Living After Death

It was a cold winter day again. The snow fell outside in ghostlike flurries, and Yue and Kero were absorbed in memories of what had been before. How could they not be? The day was eerily like the day their first master died. Eriol and Sakura were the only ones left, and they both looked so old and frail that it was clear mortality would catch up with them soon. When the summons came, Kero almost refused to leave his spot on the kitchen floor in front of the oven. He whined to Yue that this was just the only warm spot for his true form on snowy days, but they both knew better.

They knew why they were being called.

Ruby Moon wore her true form with grace and joy, almost bouncing into the family room. Spinel Sun was more sedate as he flew in from the library. Yue walked in with a look that almost spoke of relief that it would all soon be over, at least for a time. Kero hesitated at the door before rushing in to place his huge head gently upon Sakura's lap.

"Eriol, why are we all here?" Ruby's voice was light and unconcerned. Kero shot her a glare before nuzzling up against the best friend he had ever had. The other two simply waited.

Sakura smiled. "Eriol and I called everyone here because it's time."

"Time for what?" Ruby asked innocently.

Before either of the humans could answer, Kero growled. "Time for them to die, you idiot! Didn't your master give you any brains, you flighty, overgrown butterfly?"

There was a shocked silence in the room as every eye turned to the usually cheerful sun guardian. Yue moved first, gently placing a hand on his brother's shoulder. Sakura began to pet Kero on the head, comforting him but not disputing him.

"You can't die," Spinel said softly, turning his gaze to Eriol. "You're both powerful and you've lived so long, and there are too many things in this world still to learn. You can't die."

"Everything comes to an end," Eriol's voice was gentle and deep, reminding the older two guardians more of Clow Reed than the Eriol they had gotten to know the last 50 years or so.

Yue shivered. "Everything but the four of us you mean," Yue said with only a touch of bitterness.

Sakura played with the hem of the last dress Tomoyo had ever made her, a dress of white lace and pink ribbons that reminded her of childhood and the adventures they had shared when the cards had first been freed. "Yue, if you had wanted to be mortal you could have refused my brother's gift and died that day. You didn't die though, and I'm glad you are here now. I have you both by my side when I'm about to face the great unknown, and it makes it easier to know that you'll carry me in your heart after I am gone."

Eriol nodded, looking around at all four creations. They were all his legacy in one way or another. "I mean what I said though. Everything comes to an end. For mortals like me the end is death. For each of you, there are other ends. Do not forget though that each end is also a beginning."

"Then, being sealed is like being dead?" Ruby Moon looked horrified, looking around the room as if everyone had gone insane. "I don't want to die, I don't want a new master, I don't want any of this! Eriol, you can't do this to me! You aren't allowed to die, and you can't leave this world without me."

"It won't do you any good," Kero reported glumly. "He'll just announce that you're the judgment maker for the next candidate to come along, and Spinel will have to pick whoever it is. Enjoy the attention while it lasts,  _Suppi-chan._ "

Spinel glared across the room at Kero. "That is not my name! I refuse to ever answer to that!"

Kero looked up into Sakura's eyes. "My name isn't Kero-chan, but I'd rather be called that for eternity than anything else now."

Spinel complained in the background, swearing that the day would never come where he used that appalling appellation willingly. Ruby Moon was demanding that Eriol change his mind about dying--Sakura was allowed because her guardians were used to it by now, but Eriol was not allowed to abandon his creations. Yue looked on with a sad smile, but he was silent through the chaos.

Kero hadn't moved. "I don't want anyone else," he told Sakura with a hitch in his voice. "I can't go through this again where I have to help and guide and care so much and let go all over again. No one could ever be as sweet as you, Sakura."

Sakura just smiled gently, then looked up. "Yue, when you pick a candidate, make sure they like to make pudding a lot." They both looked at her in shocked surprise. "Yes, I want you two to switch rolls. Kero, I know how much you enjoy sleeping, so you'll have a while longer to rest. Just sleep until the judgment, and make sure that whoever Yue picks is worthy of the cards."

"Don't you have the next candidate already picked out for us," Yue asked with a frown.

"I won't lie. Eriol and I both have looked into the future and we have our hopes about who will be picked. The future follows currents of probability, but there are many unknowns, so your job is valid. If you see my hand in strange coincidences it is because I want to help, not because I don't think you'll do well enough on your own. Clow was the same way."

"He should have explained," Yue grumbled, and Kero nodded in agreement.

"Was that the kind of person he was? Or did he want you to learn and figure things out on your own?"

Kero sighed, resting his head in her lap again. "I like you better, Sakura. No one can take your place."

"I love you two very much. You've been my friends for so long that I can't imagine what it will be like without you, but it really is time. Please, be happy. That's what I want more than anything for both of you."

"If you want me to be happy, don't die. You're powerful enough, you don't have to die. You could come back for us, or--"

"I'm sorry, Kero-chan."

\-----

Yue stared out the plate glass window at the drifts of snow outside and sighed. So familiar, and so different from that day centuries ago. Would it snow next time as well? Or the time after that? Would there eventually be a room full of guardians talking to the reincarnations of his former masters? It almost made him smile at the poor humor, but the gravity of the situation weighed down on him too much.

Behind him, Eriol was saying his last farewell to Spinel Sun and gathering magic to place the guardian on his own book. A familiar chanting began and a magical wind swept through the room, then with a flash of light Yue knew that it was done.

A hand was placed on Yue's shoulder, tentatively. He turned to see Ruby Moon's wide eyes, looking at him with fear and trepidation. "Is it really like death?" The question was said in breathless awe.

Yue just shook his head, softly. "I don't know. It's like sleeping. I remember that I had dreams, but at the same time it felt like no time had passed. It was confusing."

His butterfly counterpart bit her lower lip and glanced down. "Does it hurt?"

Yue shook his head, but wasn't sure how to really answer that question honestly. There was no physical discomfort, but the mental anguish he had felt had not diminished in the least. He hurt for far longer over the loss of Clow because he had been sealed while the pain of his death was fresh. He realized that Sakura had done him a tremendous favor by forcing him to live his life after Touya's death while surrounded by everyone else he had cared for. It was still painful, but he had taken comfort in the sympathy and company of others.

"When we are pulled back into this world, everything will be changed. In some ways, that will hurt. But no, the only pain you have from being sealed is the pain you cause yourself."

Ruby Moon smiled a little. "Thank you," she said gently, then surprised him with a hug. "I'm sorry for everything that happened when we first met, but I thought you were the enemy."

Yue frowned. "What's gotten into you?"

She just laughed and shrugged. "Well, I've never died before!" She winked as Yue looked like he was about to correct her, then spoke again. "Oh, I know, it's not death, but it's close enough. Maybe both books will be opened at the same time and well meet again." Ruby Moon then turned away with a jaunty wave and ran to give Eriol a hug. "I'm ready now!"

Eriol just nodded and began the spell. Only four were left in the room, and this time Yue heard the difference in the spell between when Spinel Sun was sealed and when Ruby Moon was sealed. He wondered what the purpose was in that difference. Was it because of the moon energy opposed to the sun energy, or because each would serve a different purpose? It could be any number of things.

Kero simply walked up to Sakura and nodded. He looked hurt, and a bit resentful that the time had finally come. Sakura hugged him one last time, holding him close. When she straightened she nodded, and Yue realized they must have had a whispered exchange.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Kero said in a sad and tired voice. He simply stood still while Sakura's magic circle formed beneath them, then his physical form was released and he became pure magical energy. That energy was embedded on the front cover of the book, and it was complete.

"How long will you both live after this?" Yue's thoughts were morbidly latched onto the thought of death as everything came to an end again.

The two exchanged looks, then Eriol answered. "Not long. The magic of sealing away Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun is already pulling at me, telling me to rest. Clow had magic to spare, but I do not, and this has taken everything I have left. I know you were able to stay around for days after Clow's death, and you were there for the funeral, but it was necessary to do things this way this time."

"I see," Yue said softly, nodding. He then hesitated, looking down at his hands before meeting Eriol's gaze again. "Eriol, may I, just this once--"

The old man looked startled, then smiled. Despite having aged, he still looked remarkably like Clow, especially when he smiled. The magician swept Yue into his arms, holding him tight, but not as tight as Clow had. It felt different to both of them, but it was a similar enough experience to the love Yue had shared with Clow for that moment that tears sprang to both sets of eyes.

It ended too soon. Eriol was trembling with the effort to stay upright for so long, so Yue helped to support him as they walked to his familiar red leather chair. "Thank you," Yue said as the old man settled in, struggling to keep his eyes open a while longer.

"It is I who should thank you," Eriol said softly. He leaned back into the chair with a weary sigh.

Yue shook his head slowly. "Will I see you again? Will you be reborn when the book is open this time too?"

Eriol nodded once, then pressed his back against the back of the chair and let his eyes slide closed. Yue waited a few moments more, then turned back to Sakura.

"That leaves me only one more question."

Sakura looked over at him, startled, but she only smiled to encourage him to go on.

"Which part of the spell is it that changes or erases memories?"

She laughed, and it was light and airy as it had been in her youth. "If I told you, I'd have to adjust the spell to include that as well." She then crossed the room to give him a hug of her own. "I'll miss you, my friend."

"I'll miss you too, Sakura. I want to thank you for asking me to stay around for these last years. I'm looking forward to having a break from this world, but I'm not leaving in as much pain this time."

"You were there for me when Syaoran died and when Tomoyo died. I can't thank you enough for helping me through that. I wish you happiness, Yue."

They walked closer to the book, then stood facing each other. "How many more times?"

Sakura only shook her head, again with that mysterious smile she had grown to share with the previous master of the cards. "When you wake up, you will only partially awaken again. You will have a decision to make before the seal of the book is broken. At that time, you will fully awaken but will not have your power. As you guide the candidate, be sure you are only a guide and mentor, but do not do the work for him. Kero will have the final say, but if you guide your candidate well he will be able to pass the judgment." She then touched Yue in the center of his forehead and her hand glowed. "You won't remember my words at first, but will retain the spirit of the advice. I'm sorry it must be this way."

From the chair across the room, Eriol's voice stated, "Clow Reed said similar words to Kero once, but he will never remember them. I begin to wonder which way is more kind."

"Each of us is different. Maybe, when we all do meet again, maybe then Yue will pass judgment for us again and tell us why he loves his new master more and why he is more kind." Sakura smiled one last time and withdrew her hand. "Are you ready?"

Yue nodded with a hint of a smile. "I will try to be happy," he said, responding to the last thing he remembered her saying.

With that, Sakura began to pull the energy to her and chanted. To Yue the world simply melted away to be replaced by a restful state that seemed like sleep. The dreams began and played through his mind, then were replaced by another surreal state of mind as a new game was set up to play.


	19. Beginning of the End

Many long years passed, and the world changed.  Things, such as magic, were set aside by most in favor of cold, hard facts and technology.  Still, those who still thought for themselves realized that science could not account for everything, no matter how it tried.  There were also families who still taught magic to their children, though they hid this from the rest of the world where such things were scorned.

To one such family twins were born, a boy and a girl.  They had an older brother, and though the three shared secrets even their magically oriented family did not understand, the older brother decided to carry the knowledge but use none of the power they shared.  He was a voice of reason, though the two precocious twins hardly needed guidance.  They were happy and had fun, but their personalities were tempered by a wisdom beyond their years.

On the eve of their 15th birthday they stood outside, hand in hand, sharing secrets no one else in the world would understand.  "Things will be a lot different this time around, won't they?"

Michael looked at his sister with a gentle smile.  "Yes.  Even I don't know what to expect exactly."

" _Even_  you?  Since when do you put on airs and pretend to be better than me?  I'm still a whole ten minutes older than you."  Michelle gave him a friendly punch in the shoulder, grinning from ear to ear.

"This time.  I still can't believe I'm younger than you, fate is so cruel."  He emphasized the last by placing an arm against his forehead in a classic sign of tragedy.  They shared a laugh, and then he took off his glasses and started cleaning them with a suddenly distracted air.  "You know what I mean though."

She nodded solemnly.  "Remember though, this time around we're equals Michael Nathan Reed."

"We're equally pawns of fate, Michelle Nadine Reed."

"They'll be awakening soon, won't they?"

"Yes, both of them."

Michelle hesitated for a moment.  When she spoke her voice betrayed her fear of what was to come.  "Will it hurt?"

"When they awaken?  No, it won't hurt a bit.  We'll feel a little more tired than usual, but that's all."

"No, when the cards awaken.  Will it hurt?"

It was his turn to hesitate a moment before nodded.  "Sometimes it will hurt a lot.  We'll survive though, and we'll both know it's worth it.  It won't be the worst pain though.  We'll be fine."

"Thank you," she said softly.  "I'm glad you warned me."

"If you ever think you can't stand it, just remember that we'll have a lot of fun when it's over."

She simply giggled in reply, smiling at the brother who had always been there for her, and the old friend who had given so much for her once upon a time.  Now it was time to pay it forward.  "Yes!  A lot of fun!  Let's do our best!"

\-----

"What's a Sakura?"

Julia almost choked on her milk when she overheard the question.  For some reason it called to her, meaning something deeper that she couldn't quite place her finger on.

"How should I know," came the reply from another classmate.  "Look it up or something."

"Well, I tried, but I couldn't find anything about it."

"Then why are you trying?  If it's not a real word, then why are you looking it up?"

Julia couldn't keep her silence any longer.  She walked over to the bickering duo with a smug look.  "That's because it's not an English word.  It's Japanese."

Brian, the argumentative of the two, gave her a dirty look.  "Oh, and I suppose you know Japanese, little miss transfer student?"

She shrugged.  "Fine, you don't have to believe me if--"

"No, she's right," the other boy said softly, holding out the computer display for his friend to see.  "How did you know?"

Julia paused to stick her tongue out at Brian before answering.  "My grandparents were born there."

Brian still looked skeptical.  "I look more Japanese than you do," he scoffed.

"I thought you were half Chinese, not--"

"That's the point, you idiot."

Julia laughed at their antics.  "Silly!  Their parents were British.  I just said they were born in Japan, that's all."

Brian rolled his eyes, still trying to come out on top of the situation, but his quieter friend was just smiling at her.  "Hi, I'm Will Davis.  The jerk here is Brian Li, we only put up with each other because if we beat each other up again we'll be expelled."

"Pleased to finally meet you.  I'm Julia Moon.  I already knew Brian's name though because he was teasing me in Geometry yesterday."  She gave him a bit of a glare before turning back to Will.  "You're so quiet though, I can't imagine you fighting.  What happened?"

"An instant dislike/rivalry sort of thing.  Call it a family matter, if you like."

"You two are related?"

They glared at each other.  "Not by choice," Will muttered.

"So, now you have me curious.  You asked that question, and now that word is going to bug me the rest of the day.  It's like I should know it or something."

Will just looked at the display.  "It says it means 'cherry blossom' and then goes on to talk about how the Japanese revere the blossoms and have huge parties when the trees bloom.  Seems silly to me, wouldn't you be more concerned about the fruit?  Sure, flowers are pretty, but cherries are delicious."

Julia glowed at the chance to show off yet again.  "The fruit of Japanese cherry trees are inedible.  They do all kinds of things with the blossoms and the wood of the tree instead."

Their homeroom teacher walked in at that moment and the bell rang soon after, so the discussion came to an end.  The three students sat at their desks at various points in the class, all thinking the same thing.   _Okay, sure, that's what sakura means, but why do I think there must be something more?_

\-----

Rayne Aldwin was standing at the front gate of the Davis house, waiting for Will to come home that afternoon.  She could hear him bickering with Brian again and she smiled at the sheer familiarity of it.  It was a sad smile, though she tried to hide the sorrow she felt.  She just waited, breathing deep and keeping her expression as happy as she could.

"Julia  _likes_  you," Brian was taunting.

"I don't think so, and it doesn't matter.  I have someone!  I don't know why you're turning this into such a big deal."

Rayne winced inwardly, but found the strength to keep smiling.  She kept her eyes on the approaching teenagers, waiting for them to notice her.  Will did almost immediately and raced the few yard to where she waited.  He wrapped her in a tight embrace, picking her up in his enthusiasm.  She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before he set her back down, then she turned her sunniest smile on Brian.  "So, who is this Julia?"

Brian looked like he was about to say something just to get Will in trouble, but Will spoke up first, glaring at Brian the whole time.  "She's just a new girl at school.  That's it."

"Julia Moon?"

Will blinked a few times in confusion.  "You know her?"

"We haven't met yet," Rayne admitted softly.

"Then how--"

Brian let out a loud, exasperated sigh.  "Her visions, you moron."

"Say that again, idiot," Will growled, eyes narrowing.

"Actually," Rayne interjected quickly, "her family moved in next to my house just last week.  I heard that they had a girl starting at your school this year.  I also heard that she's pretty."  The last was added in a teasing tone.

Both boys blushed slightly, but were quick to shake their heads in denial.  "Not nearly as pretty as you, Rayne," Will said gently as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Nice save," Brian teased.  "Well, if you two are going to be boring I'm going to head inside for a snack.  Don't have too much fun!"

They laughed, but Rayne found her laugh was a little strained.  Will was closing the space between them, seeking a kiss, but Rayne pulled away and shook her head slightly.  "We need to talk."

He froze, his dark eyes clouding over and a haunted look took over his face.  "When you say that, I feel like we've done this before, and I know what you're going to say."

"I'm sorry, Will, but I've put this off too long as it is."

"Don't say it.  If you don't say it you don't have to do this."

"There is no other way.  I gave you what I could, but fate is pulling us in different directions."

He shook his head in denial, shock clear upon his face.  "Why?"

"It's simply time, that's all."  She began walking away.  "I never said we'd have forever."

"Then why did you say yes in the first place," he demanded.

"I'm selfish," she admitted softly.  "I wanted what I couldn't have, even if just for a little while.  "We'll still have to study together, so let's try to be friends after this, okay?"

"Just like that you want to be friends?  Please, don't do this to me!"   _Not again, I can't do this again._

She heard his mental voice clearly, but shut him out with little effort.  "There is no again, this is the only time.  I loved you, I still love you, but things are going to start happening now.  We'll be separated, and I can't tell you for how long.  You'll be happier this way."

"How can you say that?"

"I've already seen it."

She turned and started walking away once again.  This time she didn't turn back.  Will's parents were about to stop him from following.  That, too, she had seen before.  Fate's wheel was turning, and the inevitable would come to pass.

\-----

Will was numb as he watched the long red hair sway in the breeze while the girl of his dreams walked away.  They'd been together for as long as he could remember, friends when they were little because of the strange gift they shared, but they had become more as time went on.  It was a logical progression, one that he couldn't imagine ending when they were only 16.  He wanted to be with her forever.

It was true though, she had never promised more.

He hesitated only a moment longer, trying to accept what she had said, but in the end it was unacceptable.  Just before she would turn the corner he began to run toward her.  He couldn't let her leave.  If he did, it would be too final.

"Will!"

It was his mother's voice, and something about it froze him in mid-step.  There was an urgency there that he could not ignore.  He stood, helpless, watching the sun glint on those fiery strands as a wind picked them up and held them at the corner long after her body had actually passed.  Too soon even that was gone.

"Will, we need to talk.  Brian's parents just called with some terrible news."

He followed her numbly inside.  Only when he was sitting on the couch did he get an explanation.  Long ago, there had been a girl in their family who had been the master of some magical cards.  No one since had been able to even open the book containing the cards, but the family still guarded them.  The cards were kept in Hong Kong, where Brian was actually from, and he would have become their caretaker when he came of age and moved back home.  At least, that would have been the plan.

"The Sakura cards are missing.  You and Brian must return to Hong Kong and find the cards before disaster befalls not just the cards, but the entire world."


	20. Not Mine to Remember

Brian Li scowled out the window of the plane as it took them across the ocean, back to his childhood home.  It had been an entire year and nothing had happened.  He was just being forced to "babysit" a distant cousin.  Will didn't know the first thing about magic when Brian had arrived, at least not the things he would need.

_I should get the cards,_  he thought with a frown.  Everyone assumed that because his ancestor, Li Xiao Lang, hadn't been able to master the cards when they were Clow cards, Brian wouldn't have what it took either.  They'd sent him to see if Will had the talent necessary without even attempting to test him.  He was a direct descendent of Sakura also though, so he should be the one to have the power of the cards, not just be their caretaker.

He idly started "zapping" clouds as they passed, making them disappear with a flick of his will.  It brought him no satisfaction though; it was a simple exercise he had mastered when he was still a little kid.  He decided to try shaping the clouds into different shapes, something that required finesse and artistry.  Erasing something was a lot easier than the subtle changes required in shaping a thing already there, especially something as delicate as a cloud.

He was putting the finishing touches on the top of a cloud in the distance when he heard a snicker in the seat in front of him.  He smiled smugly when he heard, "Look at that!  The cloud over there looks like--"

Brian lost the conversation when he felt Will hit him on the shoulder.  "What do you think you're doing?"

"What?  I was bored."

Will scoffed.  "This from the guy who lectured me about abusing magic and not using it right?  If I'm not allowed to use telepathy with my girlfriend in the middle of class, I don't see how you can think it's okay to make indecent cloud sculptures."

"One man's obscenity is another man's art."  Brian said loftily, but a bright blush betrayed him as he realized exactly what it was he had been shaping.   _Damn hormones,_  he swore silently as he released the cloud from his control.  Wind swiftly carried it to a more random shape and Brian turned his back on the window to resist the temptation to play more.  There were always consequences to these kinds of actions after all, nature would seek a balance.  It was the principle of yin and yang; everything balanced in the end.  Every action, whether physical or metaphysical, had a reaction.

Will was glaring at him.

"What now?  I stopped playing with the clouds, so what's this about?"

"Just something I was mulling over.  When I asked you what "sakura" meant, you never actually said you didn't know, but you didn't help me either.  Now I find out they're some sort of sacred heirloom of your family or something, and you didn't bother mentioning it.  What's going on?"

"It's no great conspiracy or something, I just forgot."

"Forgot?  From what's going on now I'd think they're some big deal or something, so how could you forget?"

Brian shrugged.  "Half the time they're still called Clow cards.  I don't know what that's supposed to mean either, but it never really mattered to me.  I figured I'd never get my hands on them except to dust off the book once in a while when I become head of the clan, so I ignored it."

"Why don't I believe you," Will said with a heavy sigh, leaning back into his seat.

Brian returned his attention to the skies outside.  "Maybe it doesn't matter if you believe me," he said softly, uncaring if Will heard him or not.   _And maybe, just maybe, I don't want you to have the cards._

_But that's not for me to decide anymore.  That's for the appointer to decide._

\-----

Alex Winter stared off in the distance, waiting.  He was the only witness to the disappearance of the Sakura cards, the only clue, and he waited for the young head of the Li clan to arrive.

"I don't know what use I'll be though.  I can't remember a thing," he said softly to himself.

"You don't need to remember," a kind voice spoke from behind him.  He jumped, bowing when he saw it was the Li clan's Matron, Mei Ling.  "I told you this before.  Just go with my son, go where he leads you."

Alex nodded, smiling at her gentle tone.  "Are you sure it will be okay?"

"You'll remember when you need to," she said gently.  "You'll know where the cards are."

Loud footsteps sounded from the hall, accompanied by male voices arguing back and forth.  "What do you mean, we have to drag this amnesiac back with us?  What good will that do us?"

"Give the guy a break, Brian!  A witness is a witness.  It's not his fault he can't remember, and we'll need all the help we can get."

"I already have one useless tag-along, what makes you think I want another?"

"I'd be careful of who I was calling useless if I were you, brat."

"What did you call me?"

Alex's attention was pulled from the approaching quarrel as Mei Ling began to laugh.  "I should have expected they wouldn't lay aside their differences so easily."  He looked at her questioningly, but she just waved his concerns aside as the two walked out to join the two on the patio.  She bent closer to confide, "Their rivalry is deeply rooted in the past, further back than either remembers."

One of the boys bent over in a formal bow as soon as he spotted the two outside.  "Hello, mother.  I have returned."

The other hesitated, then followed suit.  "Hello Mrs. Li, it's nice to meet you."

She stood gracefully, smiling and bowing slightly in return.  "Brian, it's good to have you home again, however short the time will be that you are here.  Will, I am happy that you are here at last.  This is Alex, the amnesiac I am forcing upon you."  The last was added teasingly, and Brian blushed appropriately.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said something like that," he muttered, bowing again.

When Brian looked up he looked at Alex, then stared.  Alex shifted uneasily, realizing that both boys were actually staring at him, though Will was slightly more subtle about it.  "I'm sorry to be of trouble to you, I'll try to remember what I can."

Will smiled reassuringly, and something within Alex melted instantly.  He found himself smiling at the taller boy, losing himself in the dark, intense gaze.  "Nothing for you to apologize about.  You can't help it if you can't remember after all."

Mei Ling rose with an air of assured formality, drawing herself to her full height and pulling everyone's attention to her.  "The three of you will stay here a week, resting and preparing.  I'm afraid that what will come will not be easy.  Brian, teach Will everything you know about the cards in this week.  It seems to be decided."

Alex blushed for some reason, but looked at her questioningly.  He didn't understand what was going on at all.  "Decided?"

Shock and surprise crossed Mei Ling's face for a moment.  "I spoke prematurely again, I'm sorry."

Already Alex was shaking his head, staring at Will.  "No, perhaps you are right.  At the end of the week--Wait!  What am I saying?  What am I deciding?"

Mei Ling's smile soothed him, making him forget his confusion.  He knew this must be strange, he knew that something unusual was going on here, but it was hard for him to worry.  He looked again between Will and Brian, and some part of him looked closer at the two, as if they were familiar.  He didn't understand.

Then again, something told him that he didn't need to understand.

\-----

"Excuse me, are you Julia?"

Julia blinked up at the inquiring girl, wondering what this could be about.  She was in her front yard, planning out a garden for her new home as a way of putting off homework.  "Yes, that's right.  What do you need?"

"I'm Rayne Aldwin, a friend of Will and Brian.  They mentioned you after school yesterday."

"Oh!  I didn't see either of them in classes today.  Do you know if they're okay?"  A part of her wondered if they had beaten each other into a pulp despite what they had mentioned before.  She couldn't think of any other reason for them both to be gone from school at the same time.

"They're fine, they just had other business to attend to."  Rayne smiled calmly, her warm brown eyes radiating peace and reassurance.  "If you want to tell some of their friends, they've left for Hong Kong for some family business.  I'm sure the teachers know, but teachers never share anything important."  The last was said in a tone that Julia didn't quite know how to take, full of irony and the air of a private joke.

"Oh, you don't go to school with us?  I guess that would be why I haven't seen you around," Julia mused.

"No, I go to private school.  I'm interested in international studies, and I seem to have a talent for languages, so my parents picked a school that would help me with that."

Julia's eyes glowed momentarily in excitement.  "Really?  What languages do you speak?"

"I learned French and Spanish early on, Latin came very easily after that.  Let's see, German, a little bit of Russian, and Italian."

Julia deflated slightly, but she still had to ask.  "No Japanese?"

"Not yet," Rayne shrugged.  "I'd love to learn, but that's one language that I haven't found offered until college."

Now Julia's eyes began to glitter, and a grin tugged at the corners of her mouth.  "Would you like to get a head start?"

Rayne gasped.  "You know Japanese?"

Julia nodded.

"You'd be willing to teach me?"

"I'd love to."

It was the start of a wonderful friendship.

\-----

Alex wiped off his glasses slowly, trying to hide his amusement while his two companions argued yet again.  He pretended to be reading a book while lounging in one of the comfortable chairs that populated the Li house.  Brian and Will were sitting at opposite ends of a couch with books strewn between them, searching for clues about the cards that had been stolen.  Apparently, Brian was busy searching for prophesy about the cards being taken while drilling Will on facts about the cards and their guardians. Alex and managed to tune them out mostly, but once in a while the insults got interesting.

The two broke off, glaring at each other, then they shook their heads.  "I wish I knew why you irritate me so much," Will finally said, sounding amused himself.

"Oh, I know exactly why you irritate me."  Brian frowned, before shaking his head.  "There does seem to be something more to it though, doesn't there?"

"Wait a minute, what did you mean by that first part?  I haven't done anything to you.  You were the one who came to my house and acted arrogant and demanding, as if catering to your every whim should have been a privilege."  Will began to glare, his dark blue eyes well suited to the expression.

Brian just looked away, not returning the glare for once.  "You wouldn't understand," he muttered.  "We don't have time for this.  Tell me what cards are moon ruled.  The books say something about a judgment, but they seem to disagree about which guardian you'll be facing, so you'll need to know what aspect rules each card before you face it."

"I don't even know all the cards yet!  I can't just list them by what influence they fall under!  You're asking the impossible."

"Always with you, what can not be done, young Skywalker."

"Shut up Yoda.  You know I hate those movies."

Alex blinked in confusion, completely lost now.  He had been pulled into their conversation, forgetting his book entirely, by a nagging familiarity.  Then, suddenly, he had no idea what they were talking about.  It had given him the equivalent of mental whiplash, trying to follow what they said.

"Okay, okay, we're getting off track," Brian said with a sigh.  "Now, you don't need to know what all the cards are to figure out what types of cards would fall into each category.  Think about it."

"Well, day and night...so that would mean the cards can be categorized as light or dark, right?"

Brian laughed. "You just placed two of the cards; the Light and the Dark.  They don't all fall that easily though.  There are four elements, so figure out which ones would fall under each."

Will thought about it for a while, holding up four fingers while he tried to think of the combinations that would make sense.

Alex began to whisper to himself, "Yue was given life with the Windy and the Watery cards, Cerberus became aware when the Earthy and Fiery cards were created."

His chest constricted as soon as the words came out, and from across the room Brian was staring in shock.  He had heard.

"How do you know those names!?"  He jumped to his feet, rushing at Alex with a frightening speed.  "Where did you hear that?"

Alex's eyes were wide, terrified.  "I don't know.  I just knew suddenly, and the words came out."

Will walked over, placing a reassuring hand on Alex's shoulder.  "It's okay, calm down.  Brian isn't accusing you of anything wrong."

Brian glared.  "The hell I'm not!  Those two names are secrets that only the Li clan head should know.  My mom knows them, and I know them.  How would you know, unless you have something to do with the book's theft?"

Alex was holding his head in his hands, confused and shaking.  "These are things that are not mine to remember," he moaned softly.  "Why do they come to me now?"

"Back off, Brian.  Stop being a jerk."  Will gave Brian a warning glare, but not before Brian began to back away with shock written all over his face.

"Alex, you know all the cards that fall under Yue's power, don’t you?"

As if from a dream the words came to him, and he began reciting.  "The Dark, the Windy, the Watery, the Time, the Return, the Storm, the Rain, the Cloud, the Wave, the Snow, the Freeze, the Wood, the Illusion, the Shield, the Silent, the Shadow, the Mirror, the Erase, the Maze, the Loop, the Mist, the Sleep, the Arrow, the Lock, the Twin, and the Dream."  The last came out with a wistful smile, then Alex blinked.  Shock registered on his face before he nearly collapsed in on himself.  "Why did you ask me that?  These things are not mine to remember!"

Brian nodded solemnly, sitting down heavily in a nearby chair.  "I'm sorry, Yue.  Sometimes I don't think before I act, and this time I really should have."

Will looked back and forth between the two.  "What's going on here?"

Alex suddenly straightened, coming to a decision.  What was the point in a false form this time around?  There was no innocent girl that could be fooled with a kind smile and generous heart into letting him stay close.  This time the secret was already out.  He couldn't attain his true form or use his powers until the cards were released, but he would not hide behind another persona.  Yukito had served his purpose.  Alex had failed his.

That wasn't his only decision though.  "Will, do you make pudding?"

"Yes, sure, but what does that have to do with anything?"

Yue smiled behind the mask he wore.  "An old promise," he answered with a touch of sadness as he recalled the circumstance of when that promise had been made.  "I'm sorry Brian, but despite your extensive magical knowledge--"

"I know, I know.  I blew it."

Yue nodded, agreeing silently.  "My brother would never forgive me for appointing 'that Li brat' as our master."

"Doomed to repeat the mistakes of my ancestors," Brian chided himself.  Still, he chuckled for some reason.

At this, Yue looked up at the ceiling and shook his head.  "Actually, the decision doesn't mean a thing as long as the book is gone.  Without the book no contract can be made, and no key can be created.  I might as well have stayed sealed."


	21. The Dreamer Again

Rayne stared at the slip of paper absently.  Julia had printed out some of the more "interesting" kanji for her to learn…deciding to start with the fun stuff since it wasn't a formal lesson, just a couple of friends with an excuse to hang out.  At the bottom of the page Julia had put the four compass points and the four Western magical elements at Rayne's request.  Earth, air, fire, and water.  Well, those were the elements used in ceremonial magic.  Other magical systems used other elements.  The Druids had only used three--sky, sea, and earth.  Then the Chinese magic system was entirely different, though she couldn't remember the details.  She remembered that wood was one of their basic elements, but that was all that came to her.  Rayne made a mental note to ask Brian about it when he returned...if anyone could tell her, he could.  Then she would ask Julia to teach her those words and kanji.

With a sigh she set the paper aside, returning to her actual homework.  It was fun, interesting, and different, but she had other things to concentrate on right now.  She would get math out of the way first.  Anything after that would be gravy.  Sometimes she thought she only did math out of stubbornness.  It came to her easily, but she hated it with a passion.  There were so many things in this world that were much more interesting.

"Outside the context of the classroom, I will never need to know what a cosine is.  Why am I bothering to do this at all?"

She shrugged and pulled out the homework disk, slipping it into the tray on her desk.  Numbers, random letters, and mathematical symbols crawled across the surface, and then settled into problems to be solved.

Boring.

She contemplated the first problem, dragging her finger across the screen to rearrange parts of the answer.  New numbers appeared, showing that her answer was still imbalanced.  These were the simple problems.  She tapped a few buttons, dragging a few phrases and equations into new positions, and then sat back when the problem was solved.

It had taken too long.

She would have more practice questions because of her hesitation.

Rayne stuck her tongue out at the screen, pausing her homework for a moment.  She was usually on top of things, never getting practice questions.  Something was nagging at the back of her mind...something was just slightly off right now.

She followed the feeling, recognizing the stirrings of fate like puppeteer's strings.  It was like the beginning of an adventure, something like being the heroine of a novel.  She imagined herself being pulled by some invisible author toward the key that would unlock a door to another world, a new reality.  Something important was about to happen, if she would just follow the feeling.

She found herself in her mother's private collection of antique books.  There was a market still for people who loved to hold pages of written word instead of the ease of a flat, hand-held computer.  Rayne's mother owned a bookstore, catering to the eccentric nostalgia of these people.  Many customers spoke of feeling the weight of words, or how there was a unique, addictive scent to the ink, paper, and old glue.  Rayne had another reason for her love of old books...to her they just felt right.  They also catered to her sense of fantasy, feeling magical in her hands.

A new book was lying on her mother's desk, awaiting appraisal or merely classification.  It looked like an old diary, sealed with a silver clasp, bound in blue leather with a very unique design to the cover.  A stylized panther's head appeared chained to the front cover, its eyes seeming to glow a brighter blue, along with a jewel between its eyes that was the same color.  It was adorned with butterfly wings and seemed to be looking at her with an intelligent awareness.  This sent a shiver down her spine as she stared into those eyes.

Her finger absently brushed over the silver clasp, and something within her seemed to shift.  The strap flew open, releasing the book to her hands...if she would only pick it up....

She had dreams of being someone older, someone wiser, someone who knew better.  Sometimes she loved that feeling; sometimes it made her feel special.  Other times, like now, she just wanted to give in to impulse and to heck with the consequences.  She couldn't live her life like an old lady, she didn't want to be scared to do something that might not be the safest thing to do.

She stood at that cusp for a long moment, and then pulled the book from the desk.  It glowed as her fingers fell upon the cover.  It felt warm to the touch, almost as if it were alive.  Rayne slipped a finger against the edge of the front cover, feeling a thrill as she saw the hollowed out space revealed as she opened the book.  Cards lay hidden within, silver and blue like the book they lay in, with an oval inscribed with arcane symbols, dominated by a centered sun, overlaid by a crescent moon.  Some of the symbols she recognized as astrological, others she knew from other magical sources, and around the edge she noticed the newly learned kanji for the four compass points.  With a shiver she turned the card over and looked at its front.

It depicted a beautiful girl with long hair, sleeping.  Rayne's eyes were immediately drawn to the top where she saw another kanji symbol in a silver sun.  She knew it was one of the elements, but she couldn't place which one.  While she was still figuring it out her eyes swept to the bottom of the card where a banner at the bottom gave the meaning in English.  "Oh, of course.  Wind.  The Windy."

The card in her hand began to glow and a magical wind whipped around her.  She held on tightly to the Windy card, but noticed through slitted eyes that the other cards in the book had retracted into pinpoints of light and were flying from the book at an alarming rate.  Some instinct told her to close the book before they were all freed, but it happened so fast that by the time she flipped the cover closed it was too late.

The panther on the cover now glowed, pulling away from the book and taking an independent physical form.  It now looked more like a kitten with tiny wings though, and an adorable curl in its tail.  Rayne backed up, startled, but the dark blue kitten mere looked up at her with an intense and searching gaze.

"Well, it seems that those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it."

Rayne blinked in shock.  "Excuse me?"

"You have Master Eriol's Windy card in your hand, and I'm awake.  Tell me, if I look inside the book, will it be empty?"

She nodded, eyes growing wider.  "How did you know?"

He folded his arms, frowning as he hovered in mid air.  "Well, I  _am_  Spinel Sun, Guardian Beast of the Seal of the Eriol Cards, so I should know something about such things.  That aside, I already stated that history has repeated itself."

"This has happened before?"

"Well, not exactly, but close enough."

"Then, if you're the guardian of the cards, and you already knew this could happen, why didn't you stop me?"

"I was thinking," he squeaked, clearly embarrassed.  "That's not important though!  That's entirely beside the point.  The point is, now that it is done, you must help me collect the cards again.  If they are not captured they will cause mischief for everything and everyone around you."

She put on a determined face, accepting her new duty.  "Just tell me what I have to do."

\-----

Yue woke up with a start, feeling the magical release wash through him.  It was weak, far weaker than he remembered from when the Clow Cards were released, but distance would be a factor in this.  He concentrated slightly, but could only tell that the disturbance centered across the globe.  It wasn't the Sakura Cards though.  It was something similar, but the energy wasn't tied so intimately to his own.

Could it be the Eriol Cards?

It would be an interesting coincidence if they were both in play at the same time.

Coincidence?

_In this world there is no coincidence, only the inevitable._   It was a phrase that had been bandied about in both Clow's and Sakura's lifetimes by many people he had known.  He most vividly remembered the time he had watched, pretending so hard to be Yukito that he forgot who he was, on the day of Sakura's judgment when Kaho and Touya had recited the phrase at each other.  It summed up his own thought process on the subject as he contemplated this newest piece of the puzzle.

There was a soft knock at his bedroom door, and he readily stood to answer.  The Li family matriarch stood in the hall, smiling and bowing slightly.  "Excuse me for my intrusion, but the time for waiting has passed."

"Is this about the Eriol Cards?"

Mei Ling nodded.  "It is time for Brian and Will to return to America now.  Without the book there was nothing you could do to find the Sakura Cards, but now you will be able to perform your duty as appointer."

Yue frowned.  "What do you mean by that?"

"The book is just the book, and the only difference is in which cards it houses.  Clow Reed made both books in a sense--his energy was the catalyst for both despite their differing appearances.  The principles of sympathetic magic would allow something with such a strong link to be used for similar purpose, at least to a degree.  The Eriol book could never house the Sakura cards, but with the assistance of both appointers it might be possible for the contract to be drawn and the staff to be formed through the energy of that bond."

"The last time I heard, that sort of magic was only theoretical, especially when dealing with such powerful artifacts.  How did you--"

She shrugged.  "Magic is my life, and the practice and theory of magic has evolved since Sakura's time, despite becoming so rare.  Yes, science has a much tighter grip on the world now, but the Li Clan has always preserved the old ways as well as trying to find new ones."

"The Li Clan of my memory was always hidebound and stagnant."

Mei Ling frowned.  "I was never given that impression.  I suppose our family historians would not have encouraged such a view though, so it's hardly surprising.  Perhaps it was the influence of Sakura, when she married Xiao Lang.  I was always taught to be proud that they were my direct ancestors.  It would please me to attribute the family prosperity to their union."

Yue began to blink rapidly, holding back tears.  Sakura.  Her life had been shorter than Clow's.  She died of old age, happy and fulfilled, but still....

"I am glad that her memory is so honored.  That is a fitting tribute."

When Mei Ling smiled he could see traces of her ancestors in that expression.  There were traces of Sakura, Syaoran, and even Clow in that smile.  "I would love to hear more, I am overflowing with questions, but there are other matters that must be attended to.  I must awaken Brian for the journey ahead; you all must leave as soon as you can.  Could you inform Will, as a favor to me?"

Yue nodded, going directly to where he knew Will would be.  He was nearly there already when he realized that he hadn't been going to the guest bedroom Will had been staying at.  They were outside.

\-----

Will couldn't sleep.  He stood on the balcony off the guest bedroom that had been assigned to him, breathing in the humid air and looking out over the moonlit garden. His mind raced over the discoveries and revelations of the day, still tripping over the details of what had been revealed.

He had started to really like Alex.  There was something about that boy that had completely disarmed Will, making him want to get to know the other boy better.  He had felt an almost instinctive urge to protect Alex from everything.  It was a feeling that was at once familiar and completely alien to the only child.  People usually annoyed him, especially at first meeting.  Alex had slipped right past that into Will's comfort zone.

Finding out that Alex was really some ancient magical being had utterly derailed him.  Oh, his magical sight had told him that Alex was somehow more than he seemed, but Will wasn't yet used to his magic enough to have understood what that meant.  He had almost dismissed it as minor magic because it was somehow hidden behind the magic of the Li household, and Mrs. Li in particular.  Still, he had noticed it; he just hadn't known exactly what he was noticing.

Noticing that much had not prepared him for the truth.  Not in the slightest.  Nor had it prepared him to be chosen to be master of a deck of magic cards he had only heard of a week ago.  Brian was much more qualified.  Will only dabbled in magic, learning only what had been shoved upon him the last two years.  Magic was Brian's entire life.

"The whole idea of picking me over Brian is silly," he muttered to himself.  "He'll become more annoying, more overbearing, and it's stupid to pick me just because I was nicer.  It doesn't make sense."

"That's not why I picked you."

Will jumped, whirling around to see Alex--Yue, standing in the doorway to the balcony.  "I--what...  What are you doing here?"

"It's time for us to leave," Yue said with a shrug.  "I was sent to wake you up, but I see that it's not necessary."

They stared at each other in silence for long moments.  Will was surprised to find that he wasn't uncomfortable with the silence though, he was perfectly content to take in the kind appearance of Yue's mask.  "Why did you pick me over Brian, if it wasn't because I was nicer?"  He murmured the question without thinking, entranced and taken off guard by the kind amber eyes he had thought of as Alex's.

Yue smiled slightly, but it looked like a sad smile, weighted by more years than Will could imagine.  "When Keroberus chose Sakura, I was a bit bewildered.  It seemed to me that she had just been at the right place at the right time, and despite having potential I thought it had been a poor decision to pick someone who had no background with magic.  It seemed a completely arbitrary decision at first, but Keroberus had complete faith in her.  His faith was rewarded.

"My decision may seem arbitrary to you, but I have my reasons."  This was accompanied by a sunny smile that wouldn't have shocked Will earlier that day.  It fit perfectly with Alex, but since the truth of Yue had been revealed he had been more reserved.  It wasn't much time to base an assumption on, but something deep within Will told him that this was a bit out of character for Yue.

As if Yue was showing Will his secret self too soon.

"Thank you," Will said softly.  "I'll do my best."

"I know," Yue replied.  "That's one of the reasons I decided on you."


	22. Falling

They were out for a walk when it happened.  There was a slight warning in the air, but they only had time to turn to face each other before Michael collapsed to the sidewalk.  His twin's reaction was automatic and tore straight from her soul.  She called out his name, falling to her knees too late to catch him.

He hadn't passed out.  His eyes were open and he blinked a few times, but he was unable to do more than that.  "Michael, are you okay?"

He blinked.

"Michael?"

His eyes closed for a moment, then he opened them again and seemed to almost focus on her face.

"Michael!"

Nothing this time for a terrifying moment.

Michelle panicked.

"Eriol!"

He gasped, breathing once again.  He let out a shaky breath, followed by another gasping inhalation.  "That's not," breath, "my name," another breath, "any more, Sakura."

"You scared me, Michael."

He simply nodded in reply, then curled up on his side, resting his head in her lap.  "Michelle."  His eyes slid closed.  "I'm so tired.  I just want to sleep."

"I'll try to get us a ride home so you can rest."

He nodded and seemed to fall asleep.  Michelle tapped the back of her hand in a quick code, then spoke.  "Sean?  Can you talk?"

"I'm a little busy driving right now.  Make it quick."

"Michael and I need a ride home.  It's an emergency."

There was hesitation on the line for a moment, then their older brother replied, "It happened already?"

"Yes.  The Eriol cards were released.  I could feel it too, even though it didn't really effect me."

Sean cursed for a while before coming up with something coherent to say.  "I'm sorry. I'm on the other side of the world though, there's no way I could pick you two up."

It didn't cross Michelle's mind to take him literally.  He had been away for a while, he had moved out on his own recently, but she didn't think anything of his absence.  "It's okay, I'll find another way home."

\-----

"We're taking an airplane?  I should think those would be antiquated by now."

Will and Brian exchanged amused glances, shrugging.  "They are," Brian began with a wry grin, "but the rich and eccentric, like us, still prefer them to taking our atoms apart and reassembling them elsewhere.  Call me crazy, but I can think of more pleasant ways of losing my magic."

"I see," Yue said softly.  "That is a proven side effect?"

"It might be a family legend," Will admitted.  "It might be an excuse to justify the expense of a plane.  Transporters have been around so long that we don't have anyone to ask in person.  It's all just, 'Aunt Tabitha tried it once and could never...' or something similar.  All the stories are generations old, so we don't know for sure.  I don't know anyone willing to try it though, and planes are more fun anyway."

Brian shrugged.  "I've never liked the idea of transporters myself.  If it were that important to be somewhere instantly I'd rather do it by magic than to have to take that risk.  I'd much rather do it under my own power at the very least, than have some computer messing around with bits of me it doesn't quite grasp.  How would it know what parts of me are magic?  How would it know the right way to put that part back, when science doesn't even acknowledge magic?  It's too much to risk."

Yue took in their words bemused skepticism.  It sounded like so many superstitions he had once heard that Sakura had disproved in her time.  When he had been created there were many things in the realm of the unknown that people, especially those of magic ability, fought to keep in the collective consciousness.  Then again, Clow had once said that 90% of magic was intent.  If someone believed enough that they would lose their power from using a modern device, it was more than likely that it would happen.

"Less than a century before the seal was released from the Clow book the first time, it was an established fact that humans would never leave the planet, let alone stand on the moon.  By the time I was sealed into the Sakura book the first lunar colony had been established.  The magic community boggled at the repercussions.  Would the moon's magic be stronger from the surface, or would seeing the truth behind the moon rob it of all mystical energy?  What about astrology?  How would you gauge the influence of planets on a natal chart of a person not born on Earth?  Some even went so far as to think these children would not have souls or destinies.  If I've survived this long though, magic must be more resilient than all of that."

Brian frowned deeply, showing loyalty to his upbringing by being unwilling to accept such criticism so easily, but Will openly laughed.  He draped an arm across Yue's shoulders casually as he did so, dark eyes glittering with mirth.  "You've got a good point, just don't tell Mom.  I happen to _like_ flying, and I'd never get the money for it again if everyone weren't afraid of transporters."

Yue froze, completely unused to such a display from someone.  Well, someone who wasn't Clow or Touya.  He felt his cheeks warming as he looked up at Will, surprised by both the action and his own reaction.  He quickly ducked his head and slipped away from the taller man, moving closer toward the departure gate.  "They'll be boarding soon, we should move closer," he murmured softly.

The other two just laughed at his archaic usage of the word "boarding", acting for all the world like nothing had happened.  For Yue though, it was an uncomfortable turning point.

\-----

Rayne closed her eyes, focusing on the vision she had been given that morning.  She was getting more deft at reading these feelings and understanding the currents of the future, especially where the cards were concerned.  "I don't understand though, why does this one look like a butterfly?  Spinel Sun?"  She turned around, then around again.  In that moment her advisor had vanished.

She walked around the park, wondering what card could have him trapped.  Where was it?  Why had it taken the small guardian?  She felt no real urgency about finding him though; she was just walking and trying to focus on the card.

The energy of the card was now all around her, but it was also nowhere to be found.  Something else pulled her forward instead, and she heard a group of people talking.  One voice she recognized above the others--Julia.

"Half of what I say is meaningless," she was saying, just before she turned around with a bright smile to gaze at her best friend.  "Don't you think so Rayne?  But, you wouldn't know now, would you?"

"But I know who you are," Rayne protested without thought.

"Try and catch me if you can," she began to taunt, running deeper into the park.  "You can't catch me!"  She turned around a tree, vanishing from sight.  By the time Rayne caught up to that point her friend was nowhere in sight.  She searched for a moment, but found no trace that anyone had even been there.

"I'm the gingerbread man," a voice taunted from directly behind her, causing Rayne to spin around in shock.  It was Julia, but there was something slightly off about how she was grinning.

Something almost sinister.

"The gingerbread man was a boy, Julia.  You can't be the gingerbread man."

Julia grinned, bowing.  Spinel Sun chose that time to appear again, joining them and causing Rayne a minor heart attack.  She hadn't yet been able to ask her best friend what she thought of magic, whether she believed in it or not, and was scared of what her reaction might be.

There was no surprise in either set of eyes.  A simple exchange of hellos occurred before Spinel Sun turned to Rayne with an urgent look.  "You need to be prepared!  So far, you've been walking a parallel course.  It's time to wake up and make your own."

"Who am I parallel with?  What's the formula?  How do I answer this one?"

"There are no answers," another voice answered.  Will and Brian were standing to either side of her, reaching for her hands.  "Things are about to change, and what was once supposed to be, isn't."  Brian looked so serious as he said this, concerned and caring, but also old and wise as if he had been here before.

Other people soon came into view.  There was a boy their age with silver hair and eyes somehow both cerulean and amber.  He hid behind glasses like Clark Kent, but that wasn't who he was.  Julia had reappeared beside him, her long brown hair flowing around her playfully, her expression both determined and joyful.  There was a pair of strangers in the group now, a boy and a girl.  The boy had dark blue hair and even darker blue eyes that glittered mysteriously behind wire frame glasses.  Rayne was drawn to him like a moon orbiting a planet, but she felt another pull as well...one that pulled her away from him.  For the girl, his companion, she only felt a happy glow.  The girl shared her brother's blue eyes, but her hair was a wild mass of auburn strands that seemed to glow with the bright light contained within her.  There was a limitless supply of happiness in that girl, and she reminded Rayne of Will in some nebulous way that refused to be defined.

Others, faceless and hidden by shadows, joined in a circle and clasped hands.  As the circle was complete Rayne felt energy flow through her, faith and acceptance and support by all who were there.  She exchanged a giddy look with Will, grinning and being grinned at, until the two of them seemed to separate from the others in the circle.  They were now in the center of the ring of people, basking in their support.

A third person, dark and shrouded in mystery, joined them in the circle.  Rayne could feel calm and kind eyes, but she was afraid.  "You shouldn't have the cards," the figure said in a caring, but firm masculine voice.  "I won't let you have them.  Either of you."

"You can't stop me," Rayne said with a determined gleam in her eyes.  "I will capture them all!"

"You don't know what you're doing," he said, stepping closer.  The shadowy figure then turned to Will.  "And you will never find them.  I won't allow it.  They are not children's playthings.  I can't let you have them."

Will clasped Rayne's hand even tighter.  "You can't stop us!"

Darkness closed in on them, and the last thing Rayne saw was a smile lighting on the lips of the mystery man while a last hint of light flashed on his wire rimmed glasses.  Fear welled within Rayne along with a feeling of vertigo.  She was falling.  She was reaching.  She could not use her cards to save her, and she called out for help.

"Julia!"

It shocked her to realize whose name she cried out.

But she knew that Will was no longer there to save her.

She blinked as daylight once again glowed around her.  She was being held close in Will's arms, and for a moment she thought she was still in whatever dream or vision had held her before.  Brian was kneeling on the ground with a huge sword pinning one of the dark blue and silver Eriol cards to the ground.  He looked completely drained as he lifted the sword and the card flew up into the air and directly into his waiting hand.

"Déjà vu," he murmured softly, gazing at the card with drooping eyes.  "Rayne, you and I have never been rivals."  He handed her the card, then collapsed to the ground.  The sword he had been clutching suddenly turned into a familiar pendant she had seen him fingering many times...especially when he was angry with Will.  She suddenly had a new appreciation for the mannerism.

"I thought you guys were still in Hong Kong," she said to Will as she kneeled next to her other friend.  Brian was fine, just unconscious, and she began to gather a slight amount of healing energy to her fingertips as he had taught her to do when they first met.  He had constantly complemented her on her ability to manipulate magical energy, using her innate skill to taunt Will.  They were equals in power and ability really, but some things came to her easier than they did to her ex-boyfriend.  Brian had never ceased to hold that over the one he was supposed to be assisting.

Will shook his head.  "We arrived just a little while ago.  We felt the buildup of magical energy here and hoped it had something to do with you.  I need your help."

"I'll do what I can, you know that, but--"

Another person, one who had been standing quietly off to the side, now approached.  "I need to speak with your guardian, and would like leave to use the book your cards were in.  It's very important."

A shiver ran through Rayne as she saw this person.  He had been in her dream or vision or whatever this latest card had done to her.  It was the boy with silver hair and golden eyes...and something told her that those eyes were not always that warm amber color.  Even without the dream she had just seen, she would have somehow known that the truth behind this person would reveal eyes of a magical blue or perhaps violet hue.  She knew that he wasn't human somehow, but there was something very familiar about him as well.

Will smiled, standing taller as his gaze fell on the other guy.  It was a reaction that Rayne noticed with both a pang of regret and a thrill of joy at seeing that she had done the right thing.  She could already see something starting between them, though she had to wonder if either of them could recognize it themselves yet.  She had always been aware of the stirrings of destiny though.

"Rayne, this is Yue," Will introduced.

At that moment, Spinel Sun came flying up to the group, then gasped as he saw who was there.  He hesitated as if about to dive back under cover and try to hide, but it was too late.

"Hello, Spinel Sun."  Yue smiled at the small kitten-like guardian.

"Yue?  What are you doing here?"

Rayne stared in shock and confusion.  "You two know each other?"

"You could say that," Spinel Sun said, still stunned.

\-----

They all returned to Rayne's home, trying to fill each other in on events and catch up on what the other missed in a chaotic manner.  Brian had awoken quickly with Rayne's help, but he was still walking as if groggy.  Spinel Sun perched on Yue's shoulder and tried his best to look inanimate.  "Do you think they've created new guardians?" he asked the humanoid softly.

"Maybe," Yue murmured in return.  "Maybe they didn't this time.  There's no telling until they show up again.  Either way, that's behind us now.  We have to accept our new masters...once they've passed their judgment."

"I'm certain that Rayne will be able to triumph over Ruby Moon."

Yue kept his own council.  He remembered how he had felt himself when he had finally awoken, and he remembered how the other moon guardian had reacted to being sealed away be Eriol.  He had never asked how close that relationship had gotten, especially after Tomoyo had died.  It didn't matter.  He knew that the bonds between master and moon guardian were frightfully strong and tempestuously emotional no matter what other connections they shared.  Even when Yue had been deeply in love with Touya, he would have willingly died for Sakura.  He couldn't imagine that Ruby Moon's feelings would be any weaker despite her flighty façade.

"I only hope this will work," Yue said as they walked up to the front door of a nice, modern house.  He could feel the strong presence of magic within, so similar to the energy that had once been a part of the Clow book, and had once been a part of him.  A smile of sweet nostalgia crossed his lips without conscious thought on his part.  This type of magic no longer sang through his veins with the strong pull it used to.  He felt the pull of different magic as part of his being now, half of it the glittering power of the stars that was Sakura's legacy, and half of it the rich earth power that had been a part of Touya.

"It should work, under the theories of sympathetic magic.  The books are similar enough that calling the key should work."

"There's only one way to know for certain."

The entire group became quiet as they walked up the stairs to Rayne's bedroom.  She pulled out the book that was unmistakably Eriol's, setting it on her desk and backing up a step.  "Good luck," she murmured as she looked at Yue.

He stepped forward and tried to picture Sakura's book in his mind.  He superimposed the gold and pink design over the silver and midnight blue of the actual book before him.  "Will, stand over there," he directed as he drew the magical energy into him.  He let the magic etch Sakura's symbol beneath Will's feet, glad to see that it was her star symbol that appeared instead of Eriol's or Clow's symbol.  The world seemed to fade away as the two of them stood there with the high magic swirling around them.

"Key of the Seal, there is someone wishing for a contract with you:  A young man named Will.  O Key, grant him the power.  Release."  As he spoke the magic drained from him into the forming of the key, which now glowed with a bright light.  It appeared in staff form, ebony and platinum topped with a glowing sapphire gem.

Will didn't hesitate to step forward and grasp it, despite the raw power and light it was giving off.  He accepted his destiny, having been prepared for it.  Yue smiled gently, feeling triumphant at reaching this juncture.  He knew it was right.  He knew that this was the way things were supposed to be.  He knew Will would convince Keroberus...he had to.  Destiny had her hand in this--or maybe Sakura did herself.  He wouldn't be surprised either way.

And this time, he was thankful.


	23. The Great Golden Beast

Awareness returned slowly to Keroberus. He knew he was in the book, and he knew the cards were right there. Most were sleeping as he had been, but the Moon cards especially were restless. Yue was gone.

_It's too soon,_  he thought with a pang. He could still feel the echo of Sakura's hand on his head. He could still see her kind smile and hear her mellow voice, long since lost the girlish pitch he'd first heard when she opened the book. She had always sounded kind though. She had been the favorite grandmother of the Li children, even those who were distant cousins.

It was so fresh in his mind. Too fresh. It hurt too much to even contemplate returning to full awareness. Sakura wouldn't be there. The best he could hope for was an echo or shadow of her, like Eriol had been a shadow of Clow. She wouldn't be the same, and she wouldn't be his Mistress.

He wasn't given a choice though. The cards were whispering, even in their sleep, incessant and insistent, urgent and refusing to be ignored. There was a sense of impending emergency about whatever they were saying, but it took a while to make out what they were so worked up about. He finally discerned one word though.

Kidnapped.

That word brought him to full awareness as fast as lightning. He assessed the situation, able only to tell that the book was in the possession of someone it should not be.

Kero's first impulse was to storm out of the book and rend the kidnapper limb from limb. He sensed power from the possessor of the book though, and was cautioned by the feel of it. Something about the aura was almost familiar, but something he couldn't quite catch the full feel for. He knew he'd have to be more subtle about whatever action he took.

_Damn it, I'm not good at subtlety. Why couldn't Yue be here now, instead of me?_

Wishing would not make it so though, and Kero set to formulating a plan.

\-----

Between bouts of capturing rampaging cards, Rayne now found herself daydreaming almost constantly. She caught herself on the verge of playing "She loves me, she loves me not" with passing daisies from neighbor's gardens. She'd never actually do something like that though...especially since Julia was usually walking beside her when that specific urge would hit.

Brian and Will had their own business to attend to these days, and she wasn't entirely sure she could confide in either of them anyway. They'd been best friends for what seemed like forever now, but...would either of them understand her crush on the girl next door? The cliché almost made her laugh out loud, but that would be a disaster right now. Rayne was sitting, on her bed, trying to read the text crawling across the small hand display she'd been assigned. Julia sat across from her, also busy with homework.

Rayne's eyes kept drifting away from the words as they danced past. It was impossible. She already knew she'd be up late, again, restudying what she'd supposedly studied all afternoon with her newest best friend. She was disappointed to note that Julia didn't seem to suffer any ill effect from these "study dates" at all. Rayne looked down again with a sigh, hoping to put those thoughts from her mind. If Julia wasn't interested in the same way, there was nothing to do but try to stop entertaining such silly notions.

From downstairs the distinctive sound of the doorbell rang out, chiming a low and melodious tone. Julia jumped immediately, smiling. "Aren't Brian and Will supposed to be back today? That could be them."

Rayne shook her head kindly at her friend's enthusiasm. She knew who it was as soon as the bell had sounded and was already standing to race down the stairs. Yet--Julia's cheerful countenance cooled her somewhat. Was she more interested in the guys? Of course! That would only make sense after all. Of course Julia would be straight...the odds were for that at least, and--

Then Julia grabbed Rayne's hand and pulled her from the room and they raced down the stairs together. Rayne's mother had already answered the door herself and was welcoming the three boys with a warm smile and an invitation to supper. Will and Brian had accepted happily and immediately, but Alex, or Yue as Rayne knew him, was a bit more hesitant about accepting the hospitality.

"It will be like a party," Julia enthused as they reached the bottom of the stairs and waved at the guys. She was still holding tight to Rayne's hand though they had nearly reached the group in the front hall. "Rayne has been entirely too serious lately, so it's a good thing you guys showed up!"

Even when they all stopped and stood there, catching up and joking as teenagers were wont to do, Julia still held on to Rayne's hand. Rayne stammered and blushed a bit when Will gave her a questioning look, noticing the contact, but other than that she just basked in the comforting feel. She finally concluded that Julia was just confusing that way and accepted what she could have. If anything grew from there, fine. If nothing ever came of it, that was fine too. Rayne would just be happily and silently in love and take each day, and each trial, as it came.

\-----

"Shouldn't we tell her though?"

Brian shook his head in answer to Will's question, shooting a look at Yue. "Rayne is powerful enough, if she wanted to know she'd have realized it already. Or, maybe I should say if she were meant to know she'd be aware of it." The trio walked in silence for a time, then Brian paused a step and said, "Besides, we don't know for sure that Julia is--do we? Wouldn't her little sun guardian kitten thing have said something by now if--?"

"It is Ruby Moon's false form," Yue said, giving Brian a funny look. "I don't think Spinel Sun knows that though."

"How couldn't he? They're guardians of the same cards, aren't they?" Will now looked confused, staring at Yue with a lost expression that Brian remembered all too well from when he had first arrived in this town. It made Brian itch with impatience. He'd never been given any slack when it came to knowing all about magic, and Will's ignorance had always rubbed Brian the wrong way. This time though, the question seemed valid. Brian had to admit that it wasn't Will's fault he didn't know so many things....

"No, he wouldn't necessarily know," Yue said, an amused half-smile playing across his lips. "Keroberus did not recognize me when Sakura first gained possession of the book and the cards, though he had seen my false form before. I do remember speaking with Sakura about a spell to alter memories toward the end, but it is hazy."

Will frowned. "That hardly seems fair. In fact, it seems rather creepy that someone would waltz through your memories and throw things out or change them on a whim. What kind of person was this Sakura if she could do something so heartless? If I could meet her, I'd--"

"You'd do nothing," Yue said, showing a flash of temper. "Sakura and Clow both, despite doing such a thing, were neither of them ever heartless for a moment in their lives."

Brian decided to take that moment to step in, before damage could be done to the bond they'd need to rely on as Master and Guardian. "Yue is right, Will. Everything in family record says that Sakura was nothing but kind and caring. It's not even what's blatantly said about the time, but it can be inferred from the way she was treated and talked about in journals found from people who knew her. I think, if the Card Mistress had done something like that, it was of the gravest necessity. I don't know about Clow however, records about him are a bit more scarce, but I'm willing to take Yue's word."

"I stand corrected," Will conceded reluctantly. "I still don't like the idea of anyone thinking it's okay to mess about with a person's memory, magical creation or no."

Something in Brian clicked suddenly. It now made perfect sense! He looked back and forth between Yue and Will, seeing for the first time something that should have been obvious to him a few months ago when this started. Will was so protective of the moon guardian, especially about emotional matters. Yue had been growing steadily more open as he spent more and more time around Will...but he was also defensive about it, as if he knew he was showing too much of his true self and was afraid for doing so. They were both hyperaware of any possible slight put forth by the other, as if scared of being judged too harshly and rejected over mere words.

Well, well, well. Brian smirked and walked away. Will and Yue. Rayne and Julia. It seemed Clow had finally gotten it right.

\-----

Keroberus carefully let slip another card. He had to be careful, releasing the card without "ripples" so he would not be caught. It reminded him of the old fairy tale where children released breadcrumbs as they walked so they could find their way back home, but Kero was releasing the cards in order to be found. They would seek out the power of the sealing staff and hopefully draw whoever the new Card Captor was closer to the book.

Yes, of course, they would not come peacefully. The Card Captor would have to conquer each card, and hopefully quickly in order to be closest to the book's actual location. Kero wasn't about to simply hand over all of these cards when Sakura had been forced to fight for each precious spell she was granted. Even that would not be a guarantee either. Kero's only intent in releasing the cards was that they would be found and lead to the rescue of the book and punishment for the kidnapper. Then Kero would begin the Judgment, and the book would be returned to the Li compound peacefully.

That was the plan.

Kero had had enough of changing hands from one master to another. He would put a stop to that nonsense, and grant himself and Yue the rest they both deserved.

\-----

Will looked at the cards he had, fanning them out in his hand. Soon he wouldn't be able to do that. There were getting to be too many. He smiled, warmed by the thought that he was getting somewhere with this. "It's only about half what you have, Rayne, but it's still impressive, right?"

She nodded smiling into the phone encouragingly. "I released all the cards at once also, so it's pretty random how they appear. They're also all local, so I don't have to travel half way across the world every time there's some anomaly."

"Don't remind me," Will groaned. His parents hadn't complained a bit, but he was getting tired of straining for strange news of trees growing too fast or strange weather patterns that had no natural explanation, then flying half way across the world to investigate. He was getting adept at figuring the false alarms from the real thing, stretching his magical senses to their absolute limit in straining to feel the sometimes very faint or distant aura of the Sakura cards.

He had returned to Hong Kong this weekend with Brian and Yue, in search of an ancient artifact that might help them detect the cards from a greater distance. Brian's ancestor Xiao Lang had used it for finding the Clow Cards, and they hoped it would still find the cards despite their change to Sakura Cards shortly after. If not, it still might hold a key for creating a new magical item that would do the same thing for the new cards.

"Well, I should start getting ready for tonight. I'm staying over at Julia's house tonight so we can study for finals while Mom and Dad throw their party. Julia's grandparents are out of town, so we'll have plenty of peace and quiet."

Will almost...almost said something right then. Instead he smiled gently for her benefit. "You really like her, don't you?"

She blushed, turning a bright red over even the inferior quality image of an overseas call. "I, well, yes. She's my best friend," she prevaricated. "It would be stupid to hate your best friend after all."

"You know what I mean, Rayne! Come on, out with it! Or, don't you trust me now that we've broken up?"

Rayne paused a moment before answering. "Yes, I really like her. I don't think she'd ever think of me in that way though, there's just something about her that seems to miss every suggestion or hint or innuendo I toss her way. I'm afraid she's trying to let me down gently while still wanting to be my friend."

Will had his own theory, but didn't dare say a word. "Maybe...."

"Well, what about you and Yue? I remember once upon a time when you used to make eyes at me like that," she teased in return.

"Right. Funny. I'd stand a ghost of a chance with him, and then I'd wake up on some deserted island with all my other wishes granted. He's cute when he wears this normal appearance, but you haven't seen.... Over here they have this library of old flat images restored from videotapes. They were taken by this girl that was apparently Sakura's best friend and married--get this--some guy named Eriol Hiiragizawa."

Rayne gasped. "The Eriol Cards!"

He grinned at her. "Got it in one. They're all in Japanese, so I don't have a clue what they're saying, but I've skipped around some. They show images of Yue in his true form. There's no way in the world I'd interest someone like that." His grin faded, replaced by a wistful hint of a frown. "He was beautiful enough to put any being, male or female, to shame. I have the feeling from what I've seen that Sakura might have had feelings for him too, just the way she looked at the human form, but it's obvious she didn't end up with him. Maybe it's just not done. Maybe it's some sort of taboo for a guardian to have a relationship like that with the master of the cards. Who knows? I'm not about to ask though, I'd die of embarrassment."

Rayne uttered sympathetic phrases at him while he mulled over his predicament and her impending surprise. It would be interesting to see if she did end up in a relationship with Julia...if that worked even after the truth was known, would that give him hope? Or would his suspicion prove true and lead them both to misery? He almost decided to say something, to admit to her what Julia's secret was, but she was running late and had started rushing around to pack things. She gave him a rushed goodbye and signed off even as he was trying to find a way to warn her.

Then again, maybe it was best that she didn't know what fate awaited her.

\-----

Michelle could barely keep her head up in class, and Michael was hardly any better. "We have to do things differently this time," she murmured as her eyes slipped further closed. "The kidnapping," yawn, "changes everything."

Michael nodded, smiling over at his twin. "Think about it after finals," he said softly so that only she could hear. "We should have that much time at least. We'll both feel better when we don't have school and this other business to deal with."

Michelle nodded and struggled to find a new burst of energy. At that exact moment though, she felt energy drain from her as another card took life upon itself. "Time," she murmured as her head hit her desk.

As has always been the case, the teacher simply droned on from the head of the classroom. Michael did his best for his sister, doing a minor charm to keep her somnolent state from the teacher's notice. It dipped into reserves he had barely begun to regain lately, but he could manage. She had done the same for him once. It was only right to return the favor.

\-----

Will collapsed in his own bed, exhausted and weary from travel, but awash with magical energy he wasn't sure what to do with. It was comforting to be at home, but anxiety prickled at the edge of his senses, keeping him awake. The cards were here. The book was here. In this town. They just hadn't been able to pinpoint where yet.

The latest card had activated here though, nearly confused for an Eriol Card before Rayne set them straight and let them know she'd already captured the Earthy card. It had been a terrifying race to keep the destruction and panic to a minimum, but it was done. Will pulled out four pink cards, staring at them with a mix of pride and apprehension. They were the four element cards. Yue had solemnly announced that he could attain his true form when he had caught the Watery a week before, but that had not happened yet. With Water and Windy, Yue was at nearly his full power. If he understood things right, with Fiery and Earthy, Keroberus would be able to free himself from the book.

That was two hours ago. Three hours since he had arrived back home from abroad. So, what would happen now? He had 42 of the 60 cards Sakura had created either from the Clow Cards, or on her own afterward. Well over half.

Will finally slipped into a fitful sleep, still clutching the cards he had. He dreamed with them, interacting with them and becoming friends with the newest card. It was a regular thing now, something the cards told him they'd never shared with Clow or Sakura. Will didn't have the book to contain them though, so he needed to keep the cards close, and they weren't exactly contained. They obeyed him loyally, but it was that loyalty alone that kept them under control with no book...and they found they enjoyed sharing sleep with their new master.

Every time though, the first card to greet him was Mirror. "You remind me of someone," she would admit with a blush, but she'd never elaborate.

He was talking, absorbed in his dream, when something pulled him away. The cards glowed brightly beside him, the four still in his hand growing warm to the touch. A moment later there was a knock at his bedroom door.

He tossed on some clothes quickly and answered the door, sure that this wasn't something trivial. It was his mother, looking more than just a bit worried. "You have guests, Will. I'm sorry to wake you up, but I think it's important. They said it's something about the cards."

Will hurried downstairs, leaving his mother to wake Yue as well. His parents had understood from the start about the cards and had been more than happy to give the guardian a room of his own in their home. He entered the living room, not sure who to expect. There weren't many people who knew the secret of the cards that his parents wouldn't recognize--as far as he knew.

He entered the room and was face to face with a pair of strangers. They seemed to be his age, maybe a year or so younger. The girl was adorable, but in a way that was too cute for Will's taste. She carried herself like a little girl and wore pink in abundance. Her hair was dark brown and even tied in a ponytail it reached the small of her back. Her eyes were huge and a bright emerald green that glowed with life and joy.

The boy was obviously her brother, but he was like the night to her day. His hair was midnight blue and shimmered in the light as if stars rested there. His hair was also long, but pulled to the nape of his neck and only fell past his shoulder blades. His eyes were the same shade of midnight blue, matching his hair perfectly.

They were both of slight build, looking elfish and fragile despite each having an aura of almost overwhelming magnitude. Will was overpowered by a feeling of familiarity when faced with their magic. The girl's aura felt similar to the Sakura Cards, though not quite the same. The boy's felt like the magic contained in both the Sakura Cards and in Rayne's Eriol Cards. There was no doubt in his mind who these two once had been, though he had no idea who they were now or why they were here.

"Hello," he managed to get out before he heard a gasp from behind.

Yue stood, still as a statue, staring at the two with wide amber eyes. "Sakura. Clow." He sounded heartbroken as he whimpered the two names.

The guests exchanged a look, then the girl smiled gently. "No, I'm Michelle. This is my twin, Michael. I know this is quite a shock, but we don't have time to explain. We need your help. If you don't help us, the Eriol Cards will be stolen tonight, and you will never gain more of the Sakura Cards. If that happens, the Sakura Cards you do have will die."

Will nodded immediately, then ran from the room. As he pulled his shoes on he yelled into the other room, "Mom, we have business to take care of! Can you wake Brian and have him meet me at Rayne's house? It's an emergency!"

He didn't wait to see who followed him. He just ran.


	24. To Fight Fate

Brian was only a minute behind everyone else, but it was enough that he despaired arriving in time. He glanced around the street, making sure he was alone and no one would see, and he began a quick chant. An instant later he was on top of Rayne's roof, feet making light contact with the roof tiles, and he saw Will and Yue running quickly up the walk, side by side, followed by two strangers. He figured those must be the visitors that had woken the household.

He easily leapt down to join them, landing lightly on his feet beside the door. Will shook his head, glaring slightly. "You still have to teach me that trick," he said as he raised his hand to press the doorbell.

The sound of Rayne screaming stopped him cold.

It was a simple trick of magic to null the lock and throw the door open. Which one of them actually did it? Or had they all done it simultaneously? They all moved forward at the same time, barely avoiding crushing each other in the doorway.

Brian found himself at the fore, racing from memory up the stairs and to the right, three doors down, throwing it open--

Rayne's room was empty.

He almost dove backwards to head to the library, but he was absolutely certain that she had been in her bedroom when she screamed. He heard Will and Yue talking behind him, talking about searching the house, but Brian shook his head. "She was in here."

Still, how did he know?

Well, there was the obvious reason, magic. It was just one of those things that came to him. But, without evidence his hunch could be wildly wrong.

The curtains.

They were thrown wide open and fluttering in the night breeze.

The air conditioning was running full blast, and Brian had had the impression that the window was closed even when he'd appeared. Rayne was also a pretty girl, but very modest. She never slept with the curtains open. Or, maybe it was the intrusion of the sun she always protected against--her bedroom window faced east.

There was the physical evidence.

"While we ran up here, she was abducted through the window."

The strangers were still standing outside, though now they were pointing down the street. "That way," the girl cried out excitedly. "Hurry, we can't let them get away!"

The boy began running, and Brian jumped out of the window without a moment of hesitation. He landed beside the girl and they both began to run in perfect synch. Will was right behind them, and Yue--

Yue took flight, soaring above, outpacing them all. It was in the middle of the street, and he tackled the strange man to the ground even as another figure raced forward and grabbed Rayne, bringing her to safety.

That's when the scene froze.

Julia's arms were still wrapped protectively around Rayne, but her face went slack, expressionless. That's when Brian realized...this was the false form of Ruby Moon, looking at Yue's true form for the first time. He couldn't begin to imagine what inner conflict that had started for the hidden guardian.

Will pulled up beside Brian, stopping as he also saw the expression on the girls' faces. Even the strangers, who could not have understood all the implications (could they? Brian wondered) were frozen, staring in shock.

The girl took a step forward. "Sean?"

"I had to do it," the man in Yue's custody said. "If they didn't have the cards, they'd be safer. They're just children! Why couldn't you wait a few more years?"

"Sakura was even younger," the girl said, and a thrill of recognition ran through Brian. He knew who this girl was--or at least who she had once been.

"Yes, and if it hadn't been for Clow, and the bell he created, the world might have suffered for that mistake!"

It was Yue's time to stiffen in shock. How did this stranger know so much? Who was he? The question was written on every face except the three strangers.

"Sean, you know as well as we do that this is different," the boy said, also stepping forward. "Now, it is too late. You've forced it all, and you will either nullify Sakura and Eriol's sacrifice or you will start the chain of events you were trying to prevent."

"What?" It was an almost soundless whisper; painted full of more shock than should be possible. Hadn't the world's quota of surprise already been taken tonight? Somehow all that and more was expressed in Sean's voiceless question and the pallor of his face under the wan light of the streetlamp.

"What you see of the future is as through a fog. You catch bits and pieces, but I could not prevent that much, even in the last lifetime. I thought one of us could lead a normal life, and that would be good enough for us both. As Eriol, I asked you if this is what you wanted. As Fujitaka, you told me yes."

"Sean," the girl continued, "all you had to do was once, in the last lifetime or this one, let me know that you wanted a full share in what was to come. The spell would have been different, and the magic would have been divided evenly. You were my father then, and you're my big brother now, and I would have done anything you wanted me to. I thought I was doing what you wanted now!"

"I was trying to help," he said, voice quavering slightly. "Michelle, Michael, you always knew so much more than me, and I thought I could never...I just wanted to do...something...."

"You almost killed the cards," Michelle said, tears springing to the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said, and Yue finally released the man.

"It's too late to simply say sorry and walk away," a voice growled from behind them.

\-----

The air went completely still around them, as if the world itself held its breath. A golden glow lined every object within eyesight, and everything seemed supercharged with energy. The very stars themselves began to intensify in the dark sky, and the large, full moon appeared to be on fire.

Yue frowned. This wasn't going anything like the last time. The chosen captor only had half the cards, and already Keroberus was here, challenging the one he'd appointed. His hand had been forced, and he was not prepared for these things. He'd barely been given a chance to tell Will about what he would be facing.

"Hello, Keroberus."

"Yue," the guardian beast said, bowing in his direction. "I trust you think you did a better job than you thought I did last time."

"Of course," Yue replied.

Further banter was halted when the girl now called Michelle began wavering on her feet. Michael was immediately at her side, as was Sean, and together they guided her to a grassy lawn. "It's the Judgment! Already! That's not right, is it?" Sean looked back and forth between his brother and the two revealed guardians.

"Don't worry, I'll make this quick," Keroberus growled.

"I believe that Will can defeat you," Yue said calmly, crossing his arms before him.

"How can he? I've kept all the useful cards under your power except for the elements. Will can't defeat me, and I get to go back to sleep. Ha! In your face, Moony-boy! I outsmarted you for once!"

Yue's hands came up to his face, hiding his expression from everyone. He shook his head for a time, struggling between an inappropriate laugh and a snarl of frustration. Unfortunately, the laugh was winning. After all this time, after all they'd been through... _Moony-boy?_  He finally wiped a hand across his face and managed to maintain his sense of decorum. "Kero...."

"Don't even think you can worm out of this by saying it's not fair that he doesn't have all the cards. Sakura didn't fight you with the full deck, and she still beat you. The only difference is, this time I'll prove that I'm better than you. I will win."

Yue sighed wearily, still struggling on some level to not laugh at his brother's antics. "Just start the Judgment, Keroberus."

"Gladly."

\-----

Will fished a hand into his pocket and pulled out the cards. The four element cards were at the top, since he'd been looking at them just before. The rest he'd tried to keep divided at first--moon or sun, Yue or Keroberus--but as he used them they fell out of order, and it was hard to remember right now all the things Brian had said about the cards. Even as he looked, they began to dance before him, floating on their own power.

"With the cards you have, defeat me if you can," Keroberus taunted.

_ I'll have to work with him from now on, if I defeat him, _  Will thought as he transformed the key into the staff.  _I don't want to harm him or get him angry, I just have to--to what? Pin him? Make him helpless? What card do I have that can do this?_

"Too slow, human!" The armored beast began to charge, flames spouting from his mouth.

"Shield!"

Keroberus chuckled as he dodged the reflected blast. "Good! I was afraid this would be boring."

Will was frozen to the spot though. Calling on Shield had been automatic, not based on any strategy or anything. He still couldn't think, though he was trying as hard as he could. He could no longer see the individual cards...they all had changed to spirit form as part of the Judgment to be ready immediately should he call. He supposed it was also done that way to keep him from "cheating". After all, in a real emergency he wouldn't have time to shuffle through the deck to pick the right card. Wait, "real emergency"? This was a real emergency, and all Will could do was cower behind the Shield.

"Hide behind that card all you want, but the best you'll get is a stalemate. You'll never defeat me if you can't attack." Keroberus was now pacing before him, grinning in triumph. "I can wait here a very long time. I don't need to eat, I don't need to sleep, and my energy won't run out if I just wait for you to weaken. Just make it easy on yourself and surrender." He heaved another fiery blast and then raked the invisible barrier with his claws.

It was a twofold attack. Not only was Will distracted by it, but he could also feel his energy being drained in the attack. He supposed that the girl off to the side caught the brunt of the energy drain, but it affected him as well. He couldn't just sit here. He'd have to do something. He wouldn't win like if he just hid behind a defensive card like this, and he'd bring harm to that innocent girl.

But...what could he do?

\-----

Kero paced impatiently. In truth, he kept attacking despite Shield being used because he was itching to get this over with quickly. He was starting to feel antsy about having been cooped up so long, and he wanted to stretch his muscles and do something. He was irritated with himself too for mentioning that he didn't need to eat or sleep. They were still two of his favorite things to do, despite not being necessary.

His stomach growled and he flicked his tail viciously.

He almost opened his mouth to offer another taunt and maybe attack, but at that moment it seemed the Cardcaptor had finally decided to do something other than twiddle his thumbs.

"Illusion!"

Suddenly five versions of Will appeared and started running in different directions. They had scattered to various hiding places before Kero could try to sense which one was the real one. It was an effective distraction, but only a momentary one. Will was without a doubt the figure running--at his right? There were two of them, they looked startled to see each other, and took off running in different directions. Neither was illusion...but they didn't feel the same. Kero shook his head in confusion. Twin? It didn't matter. He only had to defeat one of them to win.

He picked the one of them to follow, and started bounding down the street. They made it quite a distance before Kero got close enough to notice that this one felt familiar somehow. It couldn't be the real Will. "Mirror!" Kero called out in outrage. "You tricked me!"

"I like this one, Kero. Please don't--"

Kero roared and started stalking the other way, refusing to listen. Even if everyone else liked this card captor, it was still his job and sworn duty to keep the cards from anyone unworthy. He glanced at Yue for just a moment, seeing clear emotion drawn on that face--wishful anticipation and hope. Kero hesitated in that moment, considering--but no. Yue hadn't taken Kero's emotions into consideration when he had judged Sakura.

With renewed resolve, Kero went hunting again.

There was another surge of magic as another card was activated, and Kero suddenly noticed the most perfect smell in the world. Sugary, sweet, chocolaty...a giant cake was in the middle of someone's front yard. It was the most tantalizing sight in the world.

He was torn. It was obviously a trap. There was no way it could not be a trap. "But it calls to me," he whined to himself, drifting closer. "I haven't had cake in so long...."

He heard something behind him, but when he looked there was no one there. And, the cake still looked so enticing. It was calling to him, calling his name through the language of scent, speaking directly to his empty and lonely stomach. For a moment he considered, wondering if the boy had somehow used the Invisible card, one that Sakura had created on her own, to get closer.

But, it was such a huge and perfect cake. And, if this card captor knew him well enough to bait him with cake, he would be a good enough master of the cards. Mirror approved, and Yue obviously did as well. The boy hesitated when he should be acting, but Sakura had done that at first too.

And it was such a delicious looking cake.

Really, what choice did a simple sun guardian have?

\-----

Rayne all but missed everything. She was staring at Julia, first with admiration and then with concern. "Julia? Are you okay?"

The other girl did not answer.

"Julia?"

"I don't know," came the hesitant reply.

"Julia, what's wrong?"

"I don't know," she said again, staring off into space.

Everyone else was busy watching Will fighting off Keroberus. Rayne wanted to watch. She wanted to care. But her best friend was seeing something obviously outside her previous scope of experience. "It's just magic," Rayne began soothingly.

Julia's eyes flashed. "Oh, believe me, I know what it is." Her voice was cold and distant.

"You know about magic? Does it run in your family as well?"

"I--" she broke off, brow furrowing. "Rayne, I can't be here. I can't do this. It's all wrong." The girl immediately jumped up and started running.

"What? Why?"

There was no answer. Julia just ran, faster than Rayne could, though she did try. It was as if the night had swallowed up the other girl, and Rayne was left behind in a world from which she could never follow.


	25. Improvisation

Eriol flipped the cards, one after the other after the other. Some matched Sakura's cards, nearly exactly, while others were completely unique to his deck. He wasn't Clow. He had his own life, his own dreams, his own hopes...

...and they were all sublimated by the magic power he'd inherited. Even halved it was too much to contain, and the cards were a good use to pour the energy into, but he grew more powerful at the same time. He knew it would happen, but he didn't see how he had much of a choice.

Would it ever end?

He heard laughter in the hall and felt magic burst in upon him, but it wasn't hostile at all. "Grandfather doesn't like to be interrupted," little Akane's high-pitched voice carried and echoed. "But if you crack open the door just a bit--"

Eriol stood and walked to the door, swinging it open and interrupting. "Akane-chan, you're supposed to be taking a nap now," he admonished gently.

His granddaughter jumped and ran down the hall to her bedroom, but there would be no sleeping this afternoon. Akane was looking at the stranger with strange clothes and even stranger flaming red hair who stood at the door, waiting expectantly. "I'm sorry," the young lady said, and then repeated herself in halting Japanese.

"English is fine," he said, opening the door to let her in. "Hello, Rayne."

Everything was repeating, and he knew that somewhere else, at this very moment, Sakura was having a similar encounter of her own. He felt trapped by a giant wheel of fate, and he'd trapped Sakura with him. Had he trapped these other two, as well? How much did he have to atone for, that Clow had started so long ago?

"This house-" she murmured, looking around in wonder.

He smiled and he gestured toward a chair. "Sit," he invited. "Return takes a great deal of energy. You should rest."

"It's important-" she tried again, as she sat down.

"It would have to be," he murmured, helping her sleep. He didn't have the Return slip her ahead in time, though. Things were different. He just needed to think, while he let her sleep and regain her strength so she would not get lost on her way back to the future.

He just had to think.

There shouldn't have been a reason for either Rayne or Will to use these cards to come back to this point in time. Eriol knew that there should have been other obstacles, other problems, that didn't include himself and Sakura. His visions had been vague, but he'd felt pretty certain that--

"Something changed," he murmured to himself, just as the telephone rang.

He answered on the first ring. "Sakura," he said. "Something's gone wrong."

Strangely enough, she was the one who calmed him down this time. Of course things didn't always go according to visions and elaborate schemes. There was an unknown variable, according to Will, and he was being stubborn about telling her what that was.

Finally, Eriol sighed and looked at the young lady asleep in his chair. She looked so much like Kaho, and for a moment it hurt his heart to be reminded of what had been. But, he also took heart that she would have this future ahead of her, to find happiness.

He stooped to gather Rayne in his arms as he hung up the phone, and a moment later he was at Sakura's home, in the basement that he called her inner sanctum and she just called the room where she tried new things.

Will started forward protectively as the two appeared, and Eriol raised a hand to warn him off. "She hasn't been harmed, she is just sleeping."

"How?" Will hovered close while Eriol set Rayne down carefully and comfortably on Sakura's couch. The couch was overstuffed, a bit battered with age and covered in golden fur from all the time Keroberus spent napping upon it. He didn't think Rayne would mind, though, considering how she was fast asleep.

"I helped her," Eriol said, touching her softly on the shoulder. "It will help her when this is over, since I'm sure you'll both need as much strength as you can gather once you return to your time."

"Oh!" Sakura cried, sounding child-like in her distress. "I should have--"

"No way," Will said firmly. He did look a bit on the haggard side, but Eriol had no doubt that Will would triumph through sheer stubbornness, if he had to. "I can handle this."

"You have changed more cards than Rayne has," Eriol said calmly, sitting down on one arm of the couch. "Am I right?"

"There were circumstances," Will said defensively.

Sakura smiled at him charmingly. "It's okay. I'm proud of you."

"You...are?" He looked at her a little strangely, but he relaxed.

"Of course!" Sakura insisted. "I've gone through what you, and what Rayne-chan, are going through right now. And, if Yue, and Kero, and Suppi, and Ruby Moon all approve, than I'm happy for you, and for them. Right, Eriol?"

Eriol looked at her in surprise for a moment, at how easily and enthusiastically her words had come out. "Yes," he agreed, smiling at her infectious happiness and enthusiasm. "I should have woken Rayne to hear that, too. You've said it better than I could have." As he spoke, he released Rayne from her magic sleep, trusting that it had been enough.

"That's because you haven't gone through it," Sakura teased him. "Not the same, at least."

Rayne sat up slowly, blinking sleep from her eyes and looking around in slight confusion.

"It hasn't been the same for either of us," Will said. "Everything went wrong."

At that, Rayne sat up straighter, leaning forward and looking worried. "We came, because we had to ask you! Where did you two go?"

Will sat down next to Rayne solemnly, nodding.

"Go?" Eriol and Sakura exchanged worried looks.

"The two of you," Will started, and then shook his head. "No. Michael and Michelle were there, for my Judgment, and you said you would be back. But they--you--never came back."

Sakura covered her hand with her mouth, looking more worried by the moment.

Even Eriol didn't know what it meant. None of that sounded right. It wasn't what was supposed to have happened. He looked at the two visitors from the future gravely, wondering what it meant.

"They are where they need to be," Eriol said slowly, feeling the words come to him from some other place. "The two of you, together, are doing what needs to be done, as well. But if we, if they, said that they would return, then they will return."

"You'll know, when you need to know," Sakura said, and she looked at Eriol with both surprise and understanding. The magic was speaking through them, telling them what needed to be said. And when Will and Rayne both looked like they were going to protest, Sakura placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "Don't worry. It will all work out okay."

And then they were gone.

Sakura slumped, sitting down in the space just vacated. "Did we even help them at all? We don't have all of the answers. I feel like all we did is state the obvious and send them off with riddles."

"That is all we did," Eriol said, settling beside her. "But I have confidence that we helped them as well. We couldn't answer the question they did have, but I think we may have answered some questions they didn't know that they needed answers to."

"I wanted to be more helpful than Clow was," she teased him, laughing slightly.

"Instead, you've become just as bad," he agreed, trying not to look smug.

"He wasn't bad," Sakura said, somewhat sternly. "He was wonderful. Just like you are."

"So are you," Eriol said gently. They hugged, and then Eriol went home. He had an overwhelming urge to spend as much time with Tomoyo as he could, in the last few years he would have with her.

\-----

Brian waited impatiently for Rayne and Will to regain their strength, pacing to burn off excess energy while the two of them consulted with their guardians over their dilemma. Sure, he'd felt left out since everything had begun, but this had brought it to new heights as the two of them were working together, and there was nothing Brian could do except wait.

He shook his head violently, trying to shake off the feeling. It wouldn't do him any good to give in to his envy. There's nothing those two could do that he couldn't have, if he'd been in their shoes.

Nothing they could do that he couldn't.

If.

His eyes went wide as realization rushed through him almost like an electrical shock. What if he didn't have the cards because he'd "lost"? What if it wasn't a competition he'd lost this time, and possibly last time as well? He knew--he'd known all along--that he was the reincarnation of the head of the Li clan the last time the cards were in play. There were no coincidences in this world.

But, if there were no coincidences...

Before he could second-guess himself, he was accessing old files from home. His fingers moved with lightning speed; searching, pausing occasionally to put in his password or thumbprint as he delved into archives he hadn't thought to research before. He knew they were there, but Brian hadn't given many of them more than a cursory thought, because he thought the cards were the key.

The cards were a crutch.

Clow's research was the key.

Well, maybe crutch was the wrong word. They were certainly useful tools, and they weren't exactly easy to master. But, Brian knew that for him they'd have been a crutch, and he didn't need a crutch.

Maybe what he needed, after all this time, was to prove himself. Not to everyone else, but to himself.

And here before him was all of the information he would need.

The notes were incomplete, and encrypted heavily. There was no direct way to go by literally what Brian found and create your own cards and guardians. No one was that stupid, and Clow had guarded his secrets well. What was there was enough, though, that with other knowledge he had gained and sudden flashes of intuition, he knew exactly what he'd have to do. He knew how to do it. He wondered if this was how Clow had felt when the idea itself had first come to him. He was both giddy and scared at the same time from the flood of knowledge that suddenly inundated his mind. It was too much to contain at once.

But, he knew with certainty that he could do for himself what Clow once did.

He didn't even think about it. Rayne and Will weren't even paying attention to him anymore as they spoke with their guardians more in depth about their visits to the past. Rayne was upset about something, but she had also been the first to recover so she might simply have been more energetic about whatever they'd found out.

He'd find out later, whatever it was. This distraction was the perfect opportunity to slip out and walk to the nearest park, where he would have peace and privacy, as well as something resembling a connection to nature. Well, at least things there were green and growing. That was better than the average back yard.

Brian found a small stand of trees, sighing at the shortcomings of this spot as a magical staging ground for something so big, but it would do. He would make it do. He did not want to be dissuaded or distracted. He sat down to begin preparing himself mentally--

"You're making a big mistake."

Brian cracked open an eye, looking into the darkness. He couldn't quite see anything, but he knew who it was regardless.

"Probably," he answered with measured patience, "but when I said the same to you, lifetimes ago, that didn't stop you from making the same mistakes."

Michael hopped down from the trees, landing gracefully in front of Brian. "You remember it all, don't you?"

Brian shook his head slightly. "Some. Enough. But not all."

"Enough," Michael agreed, moving to sit beside Brian. "Li Chang. Li Syaoran. Li--"

Brian cut him off with a glare. "I know who I was, and I know who I am now, thank you."

"Why are you doing this?" Michael put a hand on Brian's shoulder, shattering the remains of Brian's concentration.

"Why did Clow Reed to this?" Brian countered, rising to his feet defensively, shrugging off Michael's hand in the process. "Arrogance. Confidence. Burning with the knowledge that such a thing can be done. And bending under the weight of knowing that it must be done."

"Destiny?" Michael said softly. He stood slowly, as if the weight Brian had spoken of had a physical weight that bore down on him at that moment. "You're changing everything, by trying to do this. Do you understand just what you'll be attempting?"

Brian stood his ground. "Did you?"

Michael looked at Brian in silence for an uncomfortably long time, but Brian wouldn't back down or retract the question. He waited, finding patience he didn't know before that he really possessed.

"I thought I did," Michael finally said. "But, I really didn't."

Brian nodded. "That's one advantage I have over Clow Reed. I know that I don't, but I'm going to do it anyway. But, I have other advantages." He held up two fingers. "The knowledge of what went wrong before. Someone who will guide me away from those mistakes," he counted them off.

Michael looked at him, eyebrows raised.

"You're not here to stop me," Brian said. "You're here to help me."

Michael laughed, staring at Brian in wonder and surprise. "You're not the same person you used to be."

"I'd hope not," Brian said, relaxing at last. "If I hadn't learned a thing in all these lifetimes, wouldn't it be a waste?"

Michael nodded, eyes still twinkling. "Next month, there will be a solar eclipse. I've wondered what sort of guardians would come of that sort of energy."

"I don't know if I can wait that long," Brian slouched. "There's this feeling of urgency. I think they'll--I think Rayne and Will are going to try to stop me, if I don't get it done while they're preoccupied. They'll know if I don't do it today. Right now."

Michael nodded, the wisdom of his previous lives shining through his eyes. "I'm counting on it."

\-----

Yue finally stood, glancing out of one of the windows and shaking his head. "We've been going over this most of the night, and we don't have any more answers than what we started with. Perhaps, with some sleep..." He trailed off, giving Will a significant look.

Will nodded, stretching and rubbing his eyes. "I should be at home, anyway. Mom will get worried if Brian and I--" he broke off, looking around. "Where's Brian?"

They all looked around, using more senses than just sight to look for the missing member of their group, but there wasn't a trace of him.

"He might have gone home," Spinel Sun was quick to offer a simple explanation.

"That Li brat isn't there," Cerberus countered immediately. "I'd know that much at least."

"Brian isn't the sort who would just take off without saying something, unless it was urgent," Will said slowly, walking toward the door. "But, we'd have noticed something like that. Wouldn't we? I mean, we're not that weak...not anymore."

All four guardians exchanged silent and inconclusive glances, and the silence built up in the room. Whatever had happened, it was unknown. For now.

"We'll deal with it in the morning," Rayne finally broke the silence. "It's not as if we've had any dreams of dire and dreadful warning, right?"

"Right," Will said, with more confidence than he felt.

But, that night, the dreams began.

Everything had changed.


	26. Hanging By a Moment

Rayne nearly jumped out of her skin when Brian placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's just me," he was quick to assure her, but she was still a jittery bundle of nerves.

"She left," Rayne whispered. "She hates me."

Brian rolled his eyes, rather blatantly. "She doesn't hate you."

"She saw all that magic, and I told her I do magic, and she hates me now."

"We don't have time for this," Brian grumbled, grabbing Rayne's wrist. "Will has all of the Sakura Cards now, and you've still got Eriol Cards to find. The faster you find them, the better."

Rayne's shoulders slumped and she sighed heavily. "I suppose so. I guess you're right."

Brian tugged Rayne along behind him at a rapid pace, not letting go of her wrist the entire time. "Besides, we need to ask those two a few questions before they decide to disappear so we can't ask them any questions."

"What would you ask them, anyway?"

"I don't know. Why they made the cards? Why they made the guardians? What you guys are supposed to do with the cards? Why you and Will are so damned special and I'm not? Stuff like that."

"I don't feel all that special," Rayne murmured. "I did at first, but it's been so hard."

"You're just depressed over a stupid misunderstanding. Julia will be back. Trust me."

"You don't understand," Rayne sniffled. "I...I think I love her. And if she can't handle magic, then I don't want anything to do with it."

Brian tugged her arm impatiently, trying to quicken the pace. "It's not an issue. Really. You'll see."

"How would you know?" she demanded, stopping still in the middle of the street, pulling her arm out of his grasp.

"I know a LOT of things you don't," he called back over his shoulder, not bothering to stop.

Rayne stared at him for a moment, hands balling into fists before she hurried after him. "Oh yeah? When did you get so smart?"

"Some time when you were making moony-eyes over Julia," he said, picking up the pace again, so that talking wasn't a real option since they were just shy of all-out running.

Rayne glared at him, but she kept up. She wondered what questions she'd ask, herself, if she was given the chance. It would be too hard not to ask for hints, or for help, if she allowed herself to even open her mouth. And, wouldn't that right there prove to everyone that she was not strong enough or worthy enough for the cards? So, what else could she ask? Maybe she'd ask what they were going to do, now? It was a reasonable question. And, could they all be friends when it was over? The more she thought about it, the more important that particular question seemed. It was as if meeting them had filled in an empty space she hadn't known was even there. Like meeting an old friend again, that she just hadn't remembered.

Then she'd ask them if they really had all known each other before. Rayne had always had feelings about things, but sometimes, like now, she wasn't sure how much she could trust them. It would be nice if someone could tell her if she was right or wrong for once.

"You guys just missed them," Will said, when Brian and Rayne rounded the corner. "And before you ask, they didn't say anything really. Just that they'd be back. The twins were too busy talking to their big brother to really even notice I was there."

Rayne noted that he looked distinctly put out by that, and it was as if echoes of things she'd just been wondering about whispered in her ear. "I think you were the big brother, once," she said softly. "But, I don't know. I might be wrong."

Yue took Will's hand then, somewhat possessively. "What else do you remember?" he asked sharply.

"Just little things," she said softly. "Like, there are people missing still, and I don't know if they'll ever be here. It's more that things feel familiar than actually remembering. That's how Will and I met..."

"And how we broke up," Will frowned, inching closer to Yue.

"I suppose so, yes," Rayne said, turning and walking away. She stifled tears as she hurried home, just wishing that the night, and all it had brought, would be over quickly.

\-----

Sean drove Michael and Michelle home silently, forgoing the automatic zones for manual control so that he could avoid their eyes as they continued their admonishments. "It's still going to work out just fine," Sean said quietly. "The Sakura Cards are safe--"

"The Sakura Cards are in limbo," Michelle said. "Will passed the judgment, but he hadn't gained control of all of the cards first. He doesn't have the practice, or the attachment, that Sakura had. What if he can't change them all?"

Michael put an arm around his sister's shoulders to comfort her. "The situation for the Eriol cards isn't much better, if Rayne can even pass the judgment with her current frame of mind. They know who we are, and they know what we'll have to do. It won't be the same."

"Of course it's not the same," Sean said. "Wasn't that the point? There are two sets of cards. Will is Will, and Rayne is Rayne. It would have had to have been different from the very start anyway, and railroading them wouldn't have worked."

The twins gave each other startled looks. Had their plots and plans been leading that direction? "When did Sean get smarter than us?" Michael said.

"I've been the smart one all along," Sean said with more than a hint of smugness. "You two just couldn't see past each other long enough to notice it."

"I'll admit nothing until the Sakura Cards are safe," Michelle said darkly. "Start praying, o brother mine."

"Relax," Sean grinned, finally shifting the car into an automatic lane and turning around to look at them. "This time there are three of us."

"Two of us," Michelle corrected pointedly, "and a big brother who is supposed to be the normal one of us."

"Next to the two of you, anyone would look normal."

Michael and Michelle looked at each other, and then they looked at Sean. "You asked for it," they said in unison, and suddenly he was pelted with small stuffed animal sheep.

\-----

 

Two more cards, Ruby Moon thought impatiently. Just two more.

It had been a nerve-wracking nightmare to watch everything from behind Julia's eyes. It was impossible to think that Yue had managed it for so long, knowing what must come to be, and knowing what had once been but not being able to act upon it at all. So much magic was flying around with the other deck of cards and Will and Brian and just everything at once that Ruby Moon hadn't once needed to hide or withdraw the way Yue had. It was leading to so many conflicting emotions, though.

"I want her to fail," Ruby Moon would whisper. "I want Rayne to just get all the cards and fail and then we can all go back to sleep and ick I'm so bored with sleeping. But, Rayne just isn't Eriol, and she's not Kaho, and she's not anyone at all. She's not even Sakura, and I'd settle for that right now. All Rayne knows how to do is be an insufferable know-it-all! Books, books, books. Doesn't she have an original thought in her head at all?

"I want to go back to sleep and forget it all. But I don't want to because I'm bored. But if I don't fight with my all, and if I let her pass just because I'm tired of things being like this, then some cards might die. And I might die. And Suppi might die. There's no Touya around this time to save me. Is she strong enough?"

Ruby Moon started pacing around the room impatiently, frowning. "And how am I supposed to be some impartial judge person when I keep getting these fluttery feelings? I didn't want to be the brooding, love-struck idiot. Suppi is the smart and discerning one. He's the brooding one. He's good at staying aside and being hidden and doing what he's supposed to and being impartial. I'm not. I don't know the first thing about this judgment thing. And it will be my fault if the cards die, and we die, and everything Eriol did for us is for nothing."

It took a few deep breaths to banish the feeling of impending tears at that thought.

"Two more cards."

Ruby Moon paced some more, unable to work out the many emotions that roiled around within. "Two more cards, and it will all be over.

"Or, it will all just begin."

\-----

It was either genius or stupidity. Brian was a bit awed as he watched Will use the remaining stray Eriol Cards as an important, practical reason to begin transforming the Sakura Cards into his own.

"I just want to help Rayne," Will said, changing the Sleep and putting half of the city to sleep while Rayne used her Eriol Card for the other half.

"You two are scary," Brian muttered, keeping an eye on the rampaging Fiery. He didn't have time to keep track of who fell asleep from the card and who didn't, but he knew.

This was the last card.

A shiver went up his spine despite himself. Julia had been around a little bit, but things hadn't been the same since Will's judgment. He was certain that somewhere, hiding just out of their view, the disguised moon guardian was watching them and waiting for this to be done.

"They're just doing what needs to be done," Keroberus said, hovering in his tiny form at Brian's side. He was small to conserve magical energy, of course...and because it was easier to irritate Brian that way.

"Just like following me around like a demented toy needs to be done, I suppose?" Brian's voice was gruff as he jumped lightly from fence to rooftop, trying to gain a perspective on the scope of the disaster they were facing.

"I just happen to be an expert on capturing cards of a fiery nature," Keroberus said smugly.

"You're an expert at running your mouth," Brian replied, glaring. "You're pushing Will too hard and too fast, and don't think I haven't noticed."

"Don't start blaming me," the miniature sun guardian protested. "He's pushing himself too hard and too fast, if anyone is. But, he won't have a chance like this again. With those twins being forced to reveal themselves, they can't do what Eriol did to Sakura."

"We don't exactly have the best record of that all," Brian hedged. "What, exactly--" He dodged as a column of flame shot toward him, falling gracelessly off of a wall and into a pile of freshly raked leaves. "Ow."

"Some other time, kid," Keroberus said, flying off to help those who could actually make a difference, and avert the disaster.

Brian stood slowly, rubbing his thigh and brushing crushed leaves from his green ceremonial garb. He had to bend over and search for his hat in the pile, cursing under his breath the entire time. When he finally straightened, not much the worse for wear in the end, he looked up and into the eyes of someone unexpected.

"You're not even going to pretend to sleep?" he asked by way of hello.

"Is there a point to it, now?" Julia asked, looking toward the fight but staying hidden from the actual commotion.

"Rayne still doesn't know," Brian said slowly.

Julia gave him a sharp look, suddenly. "How long have you known?"

"The first time I saw you," he admitted, somewhat reluctantly. "We were talking about cherry blossoms, and everything fell into place."

She nodded and looked away again. "The fight is almost over. It's almost time."

Brian nodded as well, and then he surprised himself by reaching over and placing a hand on Julia's arm. "Go easy on Rayne. She--she's in love with you, you know."

Julia glared, and Brian flinched back slightly from the intensity in her eyes.

"Love," she started, but she shook her head. "It didn't stop Yue, and now I know why." Silence descended as the conflict ended, and Ruby Moon shed her disguise. "It's time to end this farce."

Brian followed her in apprehensive silence. For once, he was glad he hadn't been the one picked for either set of cards.


	27. Awakening

The darkness that grew sent shivers down Yue's spine. It was so much like when Sakura had faced Eriol, even to the lethargy that swept across the town.

"This way!" Will called out, racing with the aid of the cards to where they felt power building. A great beam of light flashed from their destination, prompting the trio to greater speed.

"Do you think Rayne and the others are--" Cerberus cut off as the other three appeared from the other direction.

"Yes, I think so," Yue said with an amused twist to his lips.

"Good," Will said, pulling out The Fly card to take him more easily to the park that was still three blocks away. "We'll need all the help we can get." He hesitated a moment, and then Will held a hand out to Yue.

Without hesitation, Yue took Will's hand and they flew together, both of them more confident through the bond reinforced by tactile contact. A glance in the direction of the others showed that Rayne and Ruby Moon had seen that gesture and mimicked it. Yue was confident. They had love on their side. Spinel Sun and Cerberus also flew close to their respective masters, balancing and completing the triads. There was nothing that Will and Rayne couldn't accomplish now.

The light intensified as the darkness of the day around them deepened. Shadows sharpened, becoming so deep that they seemed void of anything behind whatever blocked the magical light they converged upon. At the center of the light were three figures who seemed to be gathering all the magic left in the world to them and channeling it together.

"Michael, Michelle, and their brother? Sean?" Will murmured, squinting to make them out in the brightness.

"No," Yue said, pointing with his free hand.

Sean stood outside of the circle, waving them down. "Wait!" he called out as they approached. The six of them landed before Sean, looking at him expectantly, poised for whatever action may prove necessary.

Will looked confused, looking at Sean for a minute and then looking into the light again. "Who--" he started, but he cut himself off as he realized. "Brian?"

"If you don't stop them," Sean said, "the world will be undone. It's too much magic, too much for even the three of them to handle, or contain."

"Why?" Rayne cried out. "Why would they do this?"

Sean just shook his head, turning away from them. "It's been building to this, since Clow first stepped upon this path and made Yue, and Cerberus, and the cards. It grew more likely when Eriol perpetuated the mistakes Clow had made. And it was made inevitable when Brian, who sought the power Clow had through many lifetimes, realized that this time he had the knowledge and power to do what Clow had done as well."

"They'll suck the whole world dry of magic, at this rate," Spinel Sun said, fear and awe in his voice. "What were they thinking?"

"That you would stop them," Sean answered sadly, and then he walked away, disappearing into darkness.

"How do we stop them?" Will called after him.

There was no answer.

"The cards," Rayne said, holding hers out. "If it's all been building to this moment, the cards must be the key."

"We're not finished changing them," Will protested, holding out his own deck. Too many of them remained lifeless while the others floated into the air of their own volition. For Rayne, there were even more that sat unmoving in her hands.

"At the end," Yue said, "Sakura had many cards that needed to be changed to her own as well. You're both older, and stronger, than she was." Or, at least he hoped they were stronger. The stakes this time were much higher, it seemed.

"I believe in you," Ruby Moon said, holding onto Rayne's arm.

Yue nodded, looking into Will's eyes. Nothing more needed to be said. Even Cerberus and Spinel Sun were looking into their master's eyes with unconditional support.

Will and Rayne looked at each other, the resolve in their eyes identical.

"We'll start with the cards," Rayne said.

Will nodded. "And then..."

"And then," she agreed.

They stood back to back, leaning against each other for support as they bent their will to changing the cards that remained from their decks. It was much easier for Will, who only had a handful of cards left. Even Light and Dark changed, after much effort, becoming Will cards. It left him panting and pale, but he looked into Yue's eyes in triumph when he was finally able to finish his task.

Rayne sobbed in defeat a moment later, though, falling to her knees. Will tumbled to the ground gracelessly when she did so, because of how they'd been standing to support each other. "Rayne--?"

She shook her head. "I can't," she said. "It's too much." Rayne was trembling, and to everyone's surprise she had four remaining cards.

The element cards.

Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water lay scattered on the ground, though she'd been able to convert all the rest.

"The four hardest," Cerberus whispered.

"And the four most necessary," Yue murmured in reply, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder as he glanced at the other two guardians. Without those four cards, what would happen to Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun?

"You can," Ruby Moon said confidently, taking Rayne's arm and helping her stand again. "We will lend you our strength."

Spinel Sun nodded, nuzzling against Rayne's side. "It's our turn, to trust you, and to give you everything we have. We believe in you."

Yue took a step back and looked away, giving them privacy for a moment while they explained how they could help, how they could lend their strength. It was just like the moment he and Cerberus had shared with Sakura, so long ago. For a moment, Yue was relieved that it hadn't been necessary this time for them, but then he glanced at the trio still engulfed in light before them.

It might yet come to such extreme measures.

But, no matter. Whatever it took, Yue was ready. And, beside him, Cerberus looked just as expectant and resolved to what was to come.

\-----

Brian clasped Michael and Michelle's hands tightly, exhilarated and frightened by just how much power they had flowing through them, into them, and around them. If he faltered even for a moment, lost control, let his thoughts drift off course, even for a moment, they would disappear within the power and be utterly consumed by it. He wouldn't lose control, though. If he'd had one doubt, he never would have agreed to this with them. He'd have stuck to his original plan, with any consequences falling upon his shoulders alone.

He was hyper aware of the twins, knowing them both more intimately through this magical contact than his previous incarnation had known Sakura in some ways, but even still there was a distance, a barrier, that cut him off from them and held them all apart. It was as if they were a part of him, but they were sharply, painfully aware that they were each separate beings. He felt all the more lonely and alone because he knew how close they were on another level.

It's confusing, he spoke to them in his mind, knowing they would hear him, and understand beyond the words.

Their hands tightened in sympathy, knowing what he was going through because they could feel it too. He felt love flow through the magical bond, banishing the loneliness at least temporarily, and bolstering his spirits. Michelle and Michael were both smiling at him with identical expressions, and he had to return it. There was so much hope in the world, even when Rayne was struggling. Her trials would make her stronger.

All of their trials would make them stronger.

_The cards,_  Michelle looked at Rayne, and they saw through her eyes. The last four cards had been changed.

_It's time,_  Michael thought, and they dropped their hands, letting go so that they could begin their own individual spells, calling upon the elements, and calling upon the energy of the sun and the moon juxtaposed above them.

It was frighteningly easy, Brian thought as the energy coalesced into two beings before him, swirling formless but aware and sentient despite being in a state of pure energy. He wondered how they would look when they took form, expectant the way a parent is before their child is born. Like a carefully rehearsed dance, Brian, Michelle, and Michael turned outward raising their hands to welcome their new guardians even as Will and Rayne began to counter them.

The formless energy guardians readily defended them, and every blow reverberated through Brian's body, jolting him like an electrical shock through the marrow of his bones. His heart pounded, racing faster and faster as the attacks grew stronger. The two guardians became six, defending the trio as the attacks came from too many sources at once. Each offensive move, however, only served to increase their power.

_Do you think Will and Rayne will realize it?_

He felt Michael nod, even as the attacks stopped. "It's no good," Yue shook his head violently, glaring at the swirling energy forms. "They're getting stronger!"

"Then how do we defeat them?" Ruby Moon cried out.

"I don't know," Will said in a strained and gravely voice. He looked confused, searching for an answer, but he didn't lose his determination for even a moment.

It was Rayne, who had been faltering and weak, who came up with the solution. "Balance!"

Spinel Sun gave her a skeptical look. "How?"

Will didn't hesitate. "Shield!" he invoked, bringing the card out in a rush and casting it around them all.

"Almost," Michelle murmured, saying the first word aloud among the three of them since they'd begun casting the spell. It separated them further, focusing them on their own parts, and on defending themselves instead of all three of them at once.

Brian noticed also that their guardians now began to take form, and he was somewhat amused to see that one of his guardians was taking on wolf-like qualities instead of feline ones like Cerberus or Spinel Sun.

The six new guardians worked together to bring down the Shield card, nearly succeeding before Rayne brought her Wood card to bear. They were both containment cards, and it brought everything to a standstill.

But it still wasn't enough.

"Balance cards?" Will was muttering to himself, brow creased in concentration. "Twin? Libra? No..."

"Light and Dark," Rayne called out, showing the strain of invoking both cards. Still, she bore up to it, gaining strength as she asked for their help.

Will was quick to dismiss Shield and do the same, reinforcing what Rayne was doing now instead of working against her. The Dark cards contained the light that Brian, Michael, and Michelle were still radiating, while the Light cards harmonized with the light and the energy, giving it all a more natural outlet instead of burning out from struggling against the darkness.

"Perfect," Michael said, relaxing at last and leaning backward against the others. Brian thankfully did the same, and all three of them slid to the ground in a heap together, drained and excited.

A silver wolf with golden wings walked over to Brian, nuzzling his hand in concern. "Master?" he asked softly.

Brian didn't resist. He hugged the wolf to him, smiling in triumph. "I know just what your name is," he whispered into the silver fur. "Sól. And your brother is named Máni." Brian looked up at the dark-haired beauty before him, who radiated the mysteries of the darkest moon, yet seemed somehow also to be luminous in his own way.

"The irony should eat them alive," Michael said, before turning to his own new guardians and bestowing upon them names of their own.

From the sidelines, Yue looked incredulous. "More?"

"I was just getting used to these two upstarts," Cerberus grouched.

"Upstarts?" Ruby Moon demanded, hands on her hips, in an echo of how she was when Eriol had been alive.

Brian tuned the rest of them out, though. He'd finally done it. He'd proven to everyone, and most importantly to himself, that he was every bit Clow's equal. And, having accomplished that, it didn't matter anymore. Sol and Mani, and the love and awe he had for them overshadowed it all. The future held infinite possibilities for the three of them.

The future held infinite possibilities for all of them.

\-----

When they'd all regained their strength, they gathered at Michael and Michelle's house. It was a party like never before, with fifteen of them gathered at one large banquet table, some of them eating, some of them playing, some of them talking, and some of them just watching the others. Among those just watching, somewhat overwhelmed by what Clow's legacy had wrought, were Yue...and Michael.

Michael knew that Clow had never imagined an outcome like this. It hadn't crossed his mind once that what had started with one solitary soul who chose exile to live out his days with his two guardians would turn into a veritable society of mages and their guardians. When Yue caught Michael's eye, it was almost eagerly that Clow's reincarnation slipped from the room for a few moments alone with the one who had once been his greatest love.

He sighed, looking at Yue with nostalgia and resignation. Yue would ask, it was his nature to ask-- "I was thinking India, next time," Michael said.

"India?" Yue demanded. "NEXT time?"

Michael snickered softly, holding his hand out to stop Yue, to forestall his sputtered objections. "No," he said. "I'm only teasing. There are so many variables, even with destiny and the inevitable working to guide things. This is as far as Clow, even at his most powerful, could ever foresee. Even so, this isn't the outcome he expected. Not anywhere close to what he expected."

Yue gave him a thoughtful look. "I thought you, or Eriol, would have looked further and known more."

Michael let that roll around in his mind for a bit, thinking it over. When he finally had an answer, he spoke slowly, measured with the thought he put into it. "Unlike Clow, Eriol and I both had the option not to know, not to look. I could try, right now, if I wanted to. I could know what must be done, and what should be done, and what I want to bed done. But...the price is too high. I want to be surprised. I remember what it's like to watch the pages fall open to the end of the book before I was ready to know, and read the words that were there. I just don't want that again. And, it's no longer necessary."

"You're saying it was necessary, before?"

"Yes," Michael said softly. "More than anything, it was necessary for Clow's peace of mind to know that you, and all of his creations, would be happy."

"I am," Yue said, smiling as gently, and as easily, as he had once upon a time when Clow had been alive.


End file.
